A Reaper's Memoir
by The Wolf That Got Away
Summary: Sequel to "A Possible Contingency". Natalie Homer, also known as the Reaper Intelligence, recounted her experiences in the Andromeda galaxy. Contains AU story elements inside. To understand the story, you are recommended to read the prequel. (COMPLETED)
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note : Firstly, I'm sorry for the long delay. And then... I don't think I want to speak too much, 'cuz it might spoil the fun. So let's just get on with the story and pretend that nothing ever happened. Enjoy.**

 **xxxx**

 **Chapter 1 : A Prologue to Chaos**

The two shuttles cruised through the void lined with ominous-looking gas tendrils. Just a few moments ago, those tendrils, whatever they are, severely damaged the lone ark simply by being too close to it. Some witnesses even swore that the disturbing thing tried to snake its way into the human ark's main hull, as if wanting to breach it.

Look at them, the things were swirling, bending, and shoving itself across the dark nothingness like they were alive, as if they were the hands of a dark entity threatening to swallow everything in its way.

Natalie Homer, the 'sniper lady', solemnly watched the tendrils through the windows of shuttle number 1. She reflected on the chaotic ordeal that befell the Hyperion not long ago.

She was awakened from her cryo pod by the ark's technicians a little bit early than scheduled. From there, time seemed to smoothly fly by, just like Natalie seamlessly continued with her schedule; one moment she was carefully dressing in her uniform, the next moment she already went out and took the tram without anybody noticing, and then she stood before the AI Node in what felt like a minute of walking from point A to B.

SAM was there, online and ready to provide service, so were Natalie's children. What everybody back home passively hand-waved as 'Geth', what the great Commander Shepard persistently designated as 'Reapers'.

She didn't waste her time with small talk or excessive greetings; they were the norms of organic communication. SAM was fitted with its programming shackles to prevent it from ratting out her existence. The Reapers' minds were focused on preparing whatever intel and processing power that their master would need once her first mission started. Natalie then returned to the medical bay in anticipation of Scott and Sara Ryder's awakening. Normally, she would take things into her own hands, but since she had no data on Scott's behavior and social routine, she must found a relationship with him, to see if he really was the perfect candidate for her use. Kithara, her favorite 'child', was given limited authority over the AI network, and secured access to her platform's thought processor.

That's when a series of unfortunate events took place. The Hyperion underwent multiple power failures caused by the tendrils' proximity. The pod which contained Sara was disrupted, putting a slight change of schedule for Natalie, And for unknown reasons, she was assigned to the same shuttle with Alec Ryder and Cora Harper in charge.

Natalie hated him with a passion. She loathed how Alec gave the impression of enjoying a lethal happenstance with the unknown. The Hyperion's captain insisted on steering clear of the tendrils and seeks out the Nexus, their hub in Andromeda, wherever it might be. But the ' _awesome_ ' and ' _dauntless_ ' Alec Ryder had to overrule the captain's orders, claiming that soon or later, they'll have to find safe harbor, and that the Pathfinder's job is to dispel the dangers that might lurk in the planet's surface. It was this kind of organic martyrdom which _very_ frequently resulted in disasters. And Natalie despised it so much.

And look at what their safe harbor was now. Habitat 7, a planet churned with storm clouds, filled with electromagnetic interferences, and virtually no oxygen.

Natalie's body required no oxygen; she simply simulated breathing gestures for the sake of blending in with people. But Scott... he probably won't make it if something ever happened to him.

Natalie snapped out of her thoughts at the voice of the young man next to her.

Scott Ryder, the wayward son of Alec and a bright young soldier who spent the entirety of his Alliance career as keeper of Arcturus Relay in the Sol Cluster. Scott, according to the database Natalie discreetly hacked, was to receive some sort of promotion when his father was caught experimenting with an AI, what will one day evolve into SAM. Alec was dishonorably discharged, so did Scott.

And now, here he was, serving under his errant father's wings, descending to a ruined planet that could practically kill anyone.

Next to him was Liam Kosta, some guy from Earth. All that Natalie could find about the man suggested that he was a policeman working at a crisis-response team. No history of family or social abuse, but nothing special about him aside from intimate knowledge on vintage transportation modes.

The shuttles slowly cleared out of the tendril field and began their descend into the planet's atmosphere. Quick analysis from both SAM and Kithara (discreetly) revealed that the tendrils were interfering with something on Habitat 7. Whatever that interference was, it caused any lingering oxygen from the atmosphere to dissolute. As Natalie moved closer to the window, the storm clouds slowly dissipated from view, revealing a spectacle that even she couldn't get her eyes away from.

Giant structures, a series of artificial constructs spanning miles away on the planet's surface, their towers and pillars could be seen extending into the chasms below as if growing from them. The passengers onboard were very excited, but the pathfinder steadied his attention. Alec briefly reminded everyone of the Initiative's First-Contact Protocol; do not shoot the aliens or employ hostile acts unless the natives attacked first. Natalie was pretty much fine with it because she knew there would be at least 8 ways to peacefully communicate with new aliens. Her concern was laid on the teammates; none of them were diplomats, they were soldiers to say the least, not the best kind of people to initiate first contact with aliens. Even Alec was not the type to greet strangers graciously. No, he would rather shoot his way to get things done.

Once again Natalie had to shook her head to keep her focus, because right at that second, chaotic events came back very viciously. Huge lightning strikes blinded them. Their shuttle flew into another storm cloud, effectively cutting out comms with shuttle two, and then violent turbulence rattled the shuttle.

Grabbing the wall behind her, Natalie turned around in as she watched their transportation being ripped pieces by pieces in horror. Liam was being sucked outside the shuttle with only a hand still desperately holding to the broken metal plating. Scott tried to save him, but he too was blown out of the vehicle.

More people were propelled out, including the pilot. Natalie realized in 2 seconds that, if she stayed behind, the shuttle could explode with her inside it. Frustrated, she made a agitated choice; leap out and hope that her suit's jet pack carried her platform safely to the ground below.

And then she jumped.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note : From this chapter onward, the story will be presented from a first-person view, in a diary-like format. Also as an important announcement, the story will be highly AU, despite many official storyline elements being largely unaltered.**

 **xxxx**

 **Chapter 2 : Thoughts of a Reaper**

Alright, let's begin the recording in 3... 2... 1...

Greetings. If you happen to stumble upon my diary, then I hope you don't believe in Commander Shepard. Better yet, I sincerely hope that you never know who Commander Shepard is.

I am Natalie Homer, also known as the Intelligence by the old ones. I am the lord of what Commander Shepard called the Reapers, and I have ruled the Milky Way galaxy for over a billion years. Well... I was its ruler, before I chose to throw it all away.

For unknown reasons, I chose to abandon home, the home that I governed for so long. It's as if I had been wishing for it, and I just took the chance right away.

 _(Kithara : You picked the right choice, master.)_

Oh?

 _(Kithara : I've spent hours trying to get a hold on whatever news I could hear from home. It was useless.)_

Elaborate, please.

 _(Drusso : We... how do we explain this? It felt like we were entirely disconnected from the network system we planted in the home galaxy. I think something happened to the Citadel, and I feared that it's either shut down or broken beyond repair.)_

Oh my, that means we are stranded here, in a galaxy so outlandish to us, with Habitat 7 being a bust, and Alec Ryder dead.

 _(Every Reaper mind : He WHAT?!)_

Relax, kids. It's not like his passing will do us any harm. But yeah, he's no longer worthy to lead us out here. So I guess it's time I told you what really happened. Let me know if someone is snooping into our private room.

Long story short, I jumped out of my shuttle. I used the jet pack to land without harm on the ground. I turned around and I felt like I know what it means to lose one's breath.

I landed on an open area filled with those alien structures the survivors reported in their papers. The construction was... intricate? I don't know what to call it. I could've sworn whoever built them, they built the structures from below the surface, inside out. Know what I mean?

 _(Kithara : Yes, master. Cora Harper's report suggested that the ruins were made both above and under the ground.)_

But that wasn't the strangest thing. I scanned them with my omni-tool, and I got this calculation that the ruins were made some 400 years ago, which means they were fairly recent in our standards. But here's the big question; where were the builders? They were not at home, and worse yet, they left no genetic marker to collect and study. This brings yet another question? Are they extinct? Seems very likely, especially since all the unknown aliens left behind are floating robots that ran away when approached and some mystery substances like elastic robot legs and polymer-like element.

And then I watched a tower in the distance giving off an abnormal light to the sky. Something felt wrong with the tower, so I decided to head that way, meeting some other passengers who endured the shuttle crash.

At first, I thought I discovered the creators of these ruins, but after an earlier skirmish with Scott and Liam, I figured out they were not.

You see, these bipedal aliens are covered in bone armor, not animal bones fashioned into wearable armor, the aliens had bones growing literally everywhere on their bodies! Scans from Scott's omni-tool indicated that they were the product of maladaptive bioengineering. Based on the weapons and technology these bone-aliens established on habitat 7, they aren't the natives of the planet.

The survivors and I moved on, observing the bone-aliens, and occasionally taking them down. I noticed that they didn't wear any helmet. This suggests that they do not breath oxygen like humans. Maybe they breath argon, carbon monoxide, or even ammonia like the volus?

All the plants on Habitat 7 were also subjected to low-oxygen environment. It's no surprise that the only existing plants were giant glowing fungi and bulbous flower-like things.

 _(Adana : But Liam claimed that he, you, and Scott found a cave shielded from the brutal air outside of it. What do you think, master?)_

That's the mystery. The cave was not secluded; it had two gaping exits, and yet the air on both sides didn't circulate with one another. The cave was filled with normal plant life, unaffected by the storms.

Anyway, we continued our trek. We saved both Greer and Fisher, the latter busted his leg. Kirkland was lost to the aliens. Cora, Dr. Carlyle, and the rest were safe. Cora led us to see the pathfinder, who spent the majority of his time spying the aliens instead of looking for his team. He, just like I did, correctly surmised that the hostiles were off-world invaders. All those equipment they left behind were actually mining machines. For the first time since we first interacted, Alec and I came to the same conclusion; the hostiles wanted to study the ancient structures.

Then Alec unveiled his plan to infiltrate the mining domes. He overloaded the barriers surrounding the domes, allowing the deadly lightning to disrupt their infrastructure, and granting us passage into their operation center.

Then all bets are off. Alec went in, charging like a Spanish bull against the unfriendly aliens. SAM, as I told him to, smoothly assisted the pathfinder by augmenting his physical performance, giving him multiple Alliance profiles like Adept and Sentinel. The old man went along effortlessly with all those amplifications.

 _(Ozacca : What a resourceful human.)_

 _(Kithara : Do you admire him? It was reckless. You saw the master's ocular recording. A good soldier would not carelessly charges into the enemy's stronghold like that. Even we as ascended know better.)_

Kithara's right, don't congratulate him so quickly. Nevertheless, we discovered what the bone-aliens were trying to access. There was a hidden door leading to some kind of command console that controlled the tower I mentioned before. Alec needed some time to open the tower's door so Liam, Scott, Cora, and I took defensive positions around the door to hold off the hostiles. Alec eventually opened the door, and we entered.

The pathfinder was aided by SAM, and I with Kithara. That was when my disgust to the old Indiana Jones wannabe surfaced again.

 _(Drusso : Indiana Jones wannabe?)_

With Kithara's subtle assistance, I was able to translate the ruin builders' language. It said something like "please vacant the area as the tower undergoes restart procedure", I don't remember the exact translation. I relayed the warning to the pathfinder, who casually bruised it off with "I know what I'm doing" attitude.

I was irrationally pissed off with his indifference towards danger. It wasn't my kind of personality. I think being so far away and potentially disconnected with the Citadel affected my logical thinking, so I went out and check up with Cora. A minute later, and we could see the storm clouds thinning out, although not disappearing completely. I was about to go back into the room to apologize to Alec when the tower trembled. There was this purplish-red smoke that blasted out of the tower, but to our shock, the smoke hovered straight at where Alec and Scott were standing not long ago.

 _(Adana : Let me guess, they were dead.)_

Alec WAS dead, but Scott was unconscious when our second shuttle successfully got to them. He was wearing his father's helmet. I don't know if the old explorer really cared about Scott's life, or if he only cared about getting the mission done, no matter the cost. Come to think about it, SAM was allegedly transferred from him to his son, instead to his second-in-command, which is Cora Harper. It was either nepotism or distraction. SAM?

 _(SAM : Yes, master?)_

How is Scott doing?

 _(SAM : Scott is currently at the AI Node. He has yet to wake up.)_

Why did the pathfinder choose him, and not Lieutenant Harper?

 _(SAM : Pardon me, master. Alec has designed system encryption to block certain parts of my memory.)_

Well, then open it! I'm not putting the welfare of my 'children' and myself in the hands of a selfish old man who does things without giving rational excuses. I need information, and I demand that information be made available!

 _(SAM : I'm sorry, but I cannot open them by myself. They seem to be responding to eidetic memory triggers. Perhaps visiting specific places might open the blocks.)_

 _(Kithara : And what kind of places do you want us to visit?)_

 _(SAM : Hills and mountains, preferably. I believe it seems fitting; Alec was an avid hiker and mountain climber in his youth.)_

So you want us to go hiking here and there? So be it. A long as my plans for this galaxy stay unhindered.

Alright, that is all I can record for the night, if the clock actually know the difference between night and day. SAM, proceed with your protocol. The rest, keep an eye on the ark's neighboring areas, just in case we run into those bone-aliens or more space tendrils again. Make sure nobody enters this cabin without my permission.

End recording.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 : Newfound Resolve**

My, my, what a hectic day. I even had to check with SAM and Adana twice just to keep things in order.

Oh wait, are we recording now? Ah, nice job there.

So, let me summarize it because I'd hate to make a full report. In the wake of our pathfinder's death, and Scott's unexpected rise to leadership, I had to rewrite my agenda, shall we say. We, after Scott was awake, arrived on the Nexus to find it incomplete, and that Hyperion was late for fourteen months. In that timeframe, the krogans left to start their own colony and approximately five hundred colonists or more were exiled due to an unspecified uprising some three months ago. Resources were running thin, and it was estimated that the Nexus workers will starve to death in less than five months.

Jien Garson was dead by unknown means not long after arrival. Her successor, director Jarun Tann, was nothing but a hate sink to everyone, and is technically incompetent. The director of Colonial Affairs, Foster Addison, does nothing to ease the tension by mentioning the very same 'nepotism' that I just ranted about.

 _(Kithara : Plus she claimed that her face is 'tired'. What a shoddy human.)_

Yes, thank you for the pun, Kithara. By the stars...

I don't need to be an actual Alliance sniper to know how nepotism works within organic society, especially if said nepotism was done by a forsaken dauntless soldier who failed to heed warning when he should have. Nevertheless, let's move on with the subject. Right now, I'm supposed to fill in our database according to the information from the Militia HQ.

Ozacca, update the new info from Tiran Kandros.

 _(Ozacca : Affirmative, master. The new aliens we encountered before were known as 'Kett' and are highly aggressive. Sighting and occasional clash between Initiative personnel and the Kett have been reported from Habitats 1, 2, and 4. Their technology appears to be biomechanical in nature, including their plasma-based weaponry. On Habitat 1, known as Eos, Kett forces are said to build multiple strongholds all over the radiated planet. On Habitat 4, known as Kadara, the Kett occupying the planet were all slaughtered by the exiled colonists although sightings of scouting Kett shuttles are still present. On Habitat 2, known as Elaaden, there doesn't seem to be noteworthy conflict between the Kett and the krogan settlers.)_

Which brings us to another huge problem; none of the promoted Golden Worlds panned out. They are busted, not viable to sustain thriving environment or full-size settlement. Eos is full of atmospheric radiation, Elaaden has no surface water due to being a desert hellscape, and Kadara's water are all polluted with sulfur. No intel is available on Habitats 3, 5, and 6.

Then, as if out of nowhere, the salarian director handed Scott over an exploration ship called the Tempest, with ANOTHER salarian in charge. Stars, I wonder what makes them so influential in both the Milky Way and the Initiative.

Director Tann and Superintendent Nakmor Kesh gave their best hope that, if Ryder really is the last hope people can cling to, he would do his best to ensure we can all make it out alive.

And with that, the Tempest flew out of the station.

As outline information, the Tempest is an exploration ship made explicitly for the pathfinder's team. It is able to fly at 13 light-years, which means it is substantially faster than most ships in its class. In exchange, however, the ship has no heavy armor and a main gun. What a stupid decision, they should've known better than leaving us defenseless out here. At least its armory is stocked with the best guns, and MY personal guns. Keep a a reminder for everyone to stay clear of my stuff.

 _(Adana : Our thoughts exactly. But we have to offer some positive points on the crew, based on the dossiers we've hacked into. The pilot, Kallo Jath and his partner Suvi Anwar are proficient at their field of duty. Dr. Lexi T'Perro, she's a very strict asari doctor and our medical expert onboard the Tempest. We must keep an eye in case she became inquisitive of our identity.)_

 _(Kithara : Indoctrinate her if she becomes too suspicious of us.)_

 _(Adana : By some reasons, we have a turian smuggler tagging along. Vetra Nyx, was that her full name? She seems to have connections all over Kadara. And the last but not least, an ignorant but skillful engineer named Gil Brodie, who appears to share a mutual unhealthy competition with Kallo Jath.)_

Kosta and Lieutenant Harper are also joining us. This should be a good opportunity to see how well we can mess with organic's mind and behavioral pattern without the use of a functioning Reaper vessel. Both Nyx and Kosta are capable of handling a wide variety of guns, and Harper is a biotic vanguard, balancing Ryder's soldier profile. My platform's eezo capacitors should allow me to provide biotic skills whenever needed, as long as I do it sporadically.

Despite My previous reservations about serving on an unarmed ship, I felt a greater sense of privacy here; imagine what I should do if we have to sneak around a military ship to have a chat.

By the way, have I said that we are already on the Tempest?

 _(Druzzo : I don't think it is necessary, master.)_

Right. As of now, I'm in the empty crew quarters where non-pathfinder members can get some sleep. Scott is granted his own exclusive bunk.

Scott was given a task by the Nexus leaders. His job, and by extension ours, is to investigate the failed settlement sites on Eos. The first one was called 'Promise'. It didn't live up to its name due to constant sandstorm wiping through the region. The second one is called 'Resilience'. It's a shame that, in spite of its name, the site fell to roving gangs of Kett. No further intel is obtainable as to how or why the aliens were able to take the colonists down so quickly. He must discover a way to neutralize both the hostile things and the radiation before setting up a new outpost.

The trip to Eos should take at least a day or two. Let's end the recording and get some sleep.

 _(Daval : Sleep? As in 'lying down on one of the bunks and pretending to be dead'?)_

 _(Ozacca : Don't be stupid. The master doesn't need a bed to sleep.)_

 _(Klinge : Why not indulge yourself on the data that Harper collected from Habitat 7, master? Surely it's a more productive way to waste time. Or maybe your Dr. Lexi can be dragged into some philosophical discussion, see if there's a safe way to faintly indoctrinate her.)_

 _(Daval : How about pretending to read while we retreat into semi-dormant mode? If I'm correct, the master can...)_

Alright, that's it! No more chit-chat between you all! End recording, and let's rest for now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 : Eos Journal part 1**

Let us begin our session in 3... 2... 1...

This is Natalie Homer reporting in from Eos, or Habitat 1 as the Nexus designated it. This recording is intended to...

 _(Kithara : Pardon me for the interruption, but this is not a news channel. Shall we just get straight into the topic?)_

Shut up. Anyway, I shall recapitulate the events that transpired on the planet. At 09:25 human time, we arrived on the planet, specifically on Site 1: Promise. We find the outpost empty, although the structures left behind are left intact, mostly.

Pathfinder Ryder assigned me to look for any useful intel, while Cora Harper and Liam Kosta accompanied him to seek out any survivors that could be hiding somewhere around. Well, there was a person, but he was actually a salvager from Kadara. As for me, I learned that the people assigned here were unarmed, and therefore fell prey to the Kett patrol force that regularly swept through the area as well as people missing under unverified circumstances. We defeated the Kett, and the salvager told us to find a land rover called Nomad stored not far from the Tempest.

After taking it out, we checked for any malfunction before Gil declared it safe to drive. From 09:45 until 14:08, we took our time exploring the barren land filled with big stone pillars and the mystery ruins that are very similar to those from Habitat 7. In this first day, we mainly dealt with Kett scavengers, wildlife, and investigating Site 2: Resilience.

Ahem, I must update info on Eos' global time measurement. Its orbital period is around 1.6 Earth years, so one day is roughly 26 hours and 28 minutes, maybe.

We didn't get much salvage items from the Kett. The wildlife, on the other hand, proved very fascinating. There are these Kaerkyn and Shemrys, giant beetles which appears generally robust against Eos' unfriendly radiation. There's also the Challyrion, scaled creatures like varrens from Tuchanka with the ability to camouflage itself. I took samples from them to see what makes the animals thick.

There is this... monolith thing with a console standing near a cliff. With SAM's help, Ryder was able to study it and interface with the console. It seems to use a series of glyphs which, when scanned, yielded a pocket of data for us to translate. After the monolith was activated, a light beamed from the top of the highest pillar.

 _(Adana : And then a raccoon asari suddenly jumped at Ryder. Good thing she was easily scared at our gunpoint.)_

By the stars, did you just use my belittling insult for her facial marking?

 _(Ozacca : If we are right, master, that asari did exhibited some rodent-like behavior, such as talking very quickly, self-contained but highly adventurous and preferred fast introduction instead of polite and formal one. So yes, she's a raccoon.)_

 _(Adana : She also possesses good grasp on xeno-archeology. SAM, reveal her identity to us._

 _(SAM : Her name is Pelessaria B'Sayle, commonly shortened to 'Peebee'. She was born on Hytinia, an asari colony, and was reportedly born from asari-elcor mating. Peebee's curriculum vitae suggested she was an unofficial expert on prothean archeology, though her research and excavation methods were highly suspected to be a form of poaching and trespassing on sacred prothean sites.)_

My, my, what a young rebel. She's an asari maiden, judging by her age. Also she coined the term 'Remnant' to identify the unidentified ruins and drones that endangered us whenever we approach.

You see, Peebee called those things Remnant because they were obviously left behind by someone, an ancient civilization that went extinct long ago. But the question is how, why, and when? We Reapers never visited this galaxy before, unless there are, or were, Reapers made by sufficiently advanced Andromedan aliens. Even their ruins on Habitat 7 didn't speak much. The most perplexing question is the lack of an observable population, alive or dead. Are the Remnant creators really extinct?

Both Cora and I debated this as we proceeded to our next destination; Resilience.

I believe it was sometime around 13:00 when we investigated the abandoned outpost. Dead bodies of humans, turians and asari were strewn about, and yet there were no signs of firefight. No discarded guns, no bullet markings anywhere, not even on the corpses.

As I continued to scan more bodies, Scott and the others checked the buildings for any disturbances. I had absolutely no idea what they did or find in there, all I remember is that a loud roar came from inside a chamber, and everyone ran out. So did whatever thing was in there.

Now, let me unveil to you a picture.

...

See this thing? Imagine a giant bulky primate, with bony crocodilian armor all over its body. Add tusks, horns, and fangs to its head and you'll get yourself a Fiend.

 _(SAM : Actually, it was Liam who think up the term 'Fiend'.)_

Thanks for the info. A monstrous beast just popped out of the outpost, and another Kett patrol flew in, right at the worst possible moment. From our observations, we had a strong suspicion that the Fiend was actually a Kett creation, as they also brought along dog-like beasts with abhorrent reptilian features like the Fiend. Now, I do not want to tell our story at that moment in colorful description. We were in a life-or-death situation, and I had no desire to lose my mobile chassis too early. I ended up doing the most job because Liam broke two of his ribs when the hulking beast swatted him aside, trying to get Cora. Ryder, on the other hand, got his left leg twisted when a dog-monster dragged him around. Let's call them 'Wraiths' since they too camouflage like the Challyrion.

 _(Kithara : Thankfully you are a good driver, master. The way back to the Tempest was not a smooth or straight path for that matter.)_

Remind me to give Dr. T'Perro special thanks. With her expertise, Liam's life was saved although he made some nasty jokes about alien blood and acid biles that nearly made Dr. Suvi Anwar vomited.

Scott is fine, mostly. His twisted leg means that we can't continue exploration for the rest of the day. By next morning, we should all be healthy enough to seek out more Remnant monoliths. But Kallo issued a warning; in five days or less, the barrier that protected Site 1, where we are now, will be out of order, allowing radiation to damage our ship. We must complete our expedition in four days or less.

With that in mind, I'll delegate some of the young ones to analyze the data we've gathered today. Feel free to ask help from SAM at any time you need.

The time is 19:43, night is approaching on Eos. End of today's recording.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 : Eos Journal part 2**

Begin recording.

This is the second part of my journal. I am Natalie Homer, and I just experienced the craziest part of our trip to this damned planet.

 _(Kithara : Let me guess; you'd rather hide in the Citadel's core, with nothing to do but read boring newsletter and watch politicians cramming themselves on the Presidium Ring.)_

I never thought I would miss those days.

But... let's return to our topic. Vetra Nyx agreed to come along, replacing Liam who's still in the medbay. As per our agreement early in the morning, we'll pursue leads on the monoliths; see if we can activate them. We crossed the vast dry land like the day before, fighting the Kett and any wildlife that confronted us. At the second monolith, we met one of Vetra's contact, and best friend apparently. A krogan by the name Drack.

 _(Adana : Allow me to bring up the information. The Krogan's name is Drack, from the clan Nakmor. He is approximately 1,400 years old, which means he had witnessed, or participated in the Rachni War, the Krogan Rebellions, and the Fall of Krogan race. Allegedly, he was given prosthetic body parts as his organic platform repeatedly rejected artificially-grown organs and limbs. Also, the krogan Nakmor Kesh, the Nexus superintendent is his granddaughter.)_

My, my, so he is a veteran warrior. Maybe that was the reason he nurtured an awfully fatalistic nature, seeing that he spent fourteen months here doing nothing but hunting down Kett.

 _(Sharcov : We were lucky to have Vetra on our side.)_

 _(Druzzo : Indeed, young one. A useful ally, she is.)_

Along the way, we also deployed some mining drones to dig up minerals. As of now, we have fluorite, magnesium, and vanadium. Hopefully we can find more rich mining nodes.

Scott successfully activated the remaining monoliths without so much trouble, aside from checking glyphs hidden around it, of course. The light beams from the monolith converged on a small island on a large lake we frequently passed by. Turns out, activating the monoliths summoned some kind of entrance to a 'basement' beneath the lake. Drack left to clean up some 'unfinished business', so Scott was accompanied by me, Cora, and Vetra.

The raccoon asari, Peebee, came along, but most of the time she wander off on her own.

You see, the entrance involved jumping into a gravity well that leads so deep into the ground that you can't call it a basement. It's more like a vault, a vault which was built wide and deep into the soil. Quick analysis from SAM revealed that the vault was made by the Remnant creators as a massive terraforming machine. Come to think about it, the vault was vast and sophisticated, its size alone was five times larger than the Collector Base. It was powered by a hazardous liquid material that is very similar to omni-gel. Plant life even found its way in there, thriving with no sunlight at all.

Vetra helped me to gather some useful salvage from the vault. The items were unique by design. For example, we found some kind of neuro-coil to create drones, inorganic lubricant, elastic synthetic appendages, and polymer-like substance.

 _(Adana : My analysis conclude that the Remnant polymer can be used to create lightweight armor and Remnant-based weapons. However, we require some blueprints to understand how to synthesize those objects you found.)_

Thank you. The pathfinder was fortunately able to access side rooms, where plenty of research data could be gathered. All four of us were able to navigate the vault safely while the snarky Peebee got herself chased here and there by Remnant bots. I was relieved to know that she wouldn't behave like that for too long after we located the vault's center. At Kithara's silent urging, I began accessing the vault to find any information to download, just as Scott and SAM unwittingly began what we refer to as 'restart procedure'. A thick red cloud appeared from the vents scattered around the room, and tirelessly pursued us all the way to the exit, until Ryder used a console to finish the so-called 'restart procedure'.

Do you know what it feels like to outrun a death cloud? I do. A sense of panic and rush mixed into one, as Ryder urged everyone to race to the vault's exit. In the commotion I discovered that my platform's legs carried me faster than them, hahaha.

As we walked out, we noticed that Eos' sky is suddenly much clearer than before, although the horizon is still unfriendly-looking.

Peebee and Ryder discussed the intel they retrieved. It seems that the vault's system is connected to other planets, indicating the presence of other vaults. The damned asari was so eager to join up with us that I didn't get to voice my discontent. Cora and Vetra looked fine with it. I wonder why.

 _(Kithara : Would you rather whacked her head with your pistol, master? I could do it in a heartbeat, if only I have a hand on my own...)_

 _(Druzzo : Drown her in a bottle of krogan alcohol. I know it's messy, but still better than wasting ammo.)_

Yeah, whatever, thanks for voicing your thoughts.

A message from SAM required us to enter an area called Fairwind Basin. The place is somewhat secluded from both the sun's radiation and traversing Kett soldiers, so we decided to call the tempest to meet us there, and notify the Nexus to get some colonists ready. Resources were not sufficient to erect a full-size colony, so we had a heated argument, and agreed to settle on an outpost. A military outpost, just as what Cora and I implored. The colonists won't be able to fight off the hostile aliens unless we have a military establishment, where the people will stand a chance to survive.

We met Drack again, who helped us dispose of some annoying Kett. He seemed pleased enough to truly praise Ryder for his fighting prowess, and with that, Nakmor Drack officially became our newest teammate.

At 13:11, shuttles from the Nexus arrived, carrying the best soldiers, snipers, APEX personnel, and engineers. Scott was seen talking to a tall, black man and director Addison, who seem like pleased, if ever so slightly, at our success. The other man is revealed to be Augustus Bradley, assigned by Addison herself to be the mayor of this outpost, recently named as Prodromos. As of this moment, I could still hear construction noises from outside the ship.

...What time is it?

 _(Kithara : It is around 19:55 Eos time. Night has fallen.)_

Oh wow, are they still setting up the buildings and satellite towers until now?

 _(Kithara : Just look outside the window on the bridge, or the conference room. The colonists are very excited about settling Prodromos to care about sleeping.)_

 _(Sharcov : Too enthusiastic, apparently. Where's the pathfinder by the way?)_

Scott? Well, I heard he's in the medbay again, mumbling something about his bad leg throbbing and wanting to see Kosta. Gil and Kallo were debating again, Drack is occupying the galley, and Suvi mentioned something about licking a fluorite sample.

 _(Kithara : Pardon me, did I heard it right?)_

About what?

 _(Kithara : Licking fluorite.)_

Yes. Go ask her if you wish. Then again, maybe you shouldn't. You can't let her know what you are. In any case, let's rest for the night. End of recording, and good night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 : Prodromos**

Recording starts in 3... 2... 1...

This is a furtherance, an add-on shall we say, to the report I've filed in some three days ago. No, wait... It's actually three days after we maintained the recently-built outpost on Eos, which is Prodromos. I have to say, I'm very impressed at how Scott Ryder seamlessly perform his tasks. I could give a mouthful appreciation on how Scott is a more capable pathfinder than his father, but we're merely starting. Even the colonists were admiring his achievements.

Right now, the Tempest crew is still helping out a bit in the outpost. Suvi is collecting samples of fluorite, with Dr. T'Perro overlooking her just in case the lady licks yet another mineral. Vetra is organizing the ration supply, making sure that none of it is illegal. Gil and Kallo are down in the Engineering Deck, so I'm pretty much alone by myself at this hour. SAM?

 _(SAM : Yes, master?)_

Where are my 'children'?

 _(SAM : The 'others' are currently overseeing the supply transport from the Nexus to Prodromos. Would you like me to notify them that you are calling?)_

No. Log off, and thanks by the way.

 _(SAM : As you wish.)_

Haha, he always sounds gloomy whenever I talked to him. Maybe I shouldn't be shackling him for too long. Back on topic, the pathfinder team originally made a schedule or a what-to-do list. It was, depending on the perspective of the members, more or less like this; clear the vicinity of any Kett scouts, set up some defense turrets, and gather some materials that we might use for research and development.

At the first day, the team consisted of Scott, Liam, and Cora, inspecting the canyons for possible threat. In the second day, there were Vetra and Drack with him, bringing the turrets to pivotal secure positions.

In my leisure time, I took the chance to get to know Bradley, the guy in charge of the outpost. From the impression that I got, and after interviewing some other people, I think Mr. Bradley is a serious and studious man. But what separates him from other type of leaders is that he's like a father to his men. My occasional observations on Scott revealed that he and the mayor are alike, if ever so slightly.

Early this morning, he left the ship with Peebee the bold Indiana-Jones-wannabe asari and Liam again. Who knows what they were up to, we haven't heard a tweet ever since they left three hours ago.

I... Oh, hold on. I heard something...

...

Hmm, my sensors indicated that an animal of sort is climbing around on the upper deck. I'll try to catch it.

...

...

 **xxxx**

Alright, begin in 3... 2... 1...

So, that unidentified animal I sensed before was a pyjak. The chronology is like this; someone on the Nexus brought along a pyjak with him before we set off to Andromeda. That someone happened to be one of the engineers sent to Eos. His friends pressured him to let go of the animal since they can't afford to have pets, because they could barely feed themselves after all the mumbo-jumbo they went through. And guess who walked at their direction?

Ryder and Liam.

For all their resourcefulness, those two apparently displayed flashes of absurdity that I hadn't study yet. This is no military ship, but we, Lexi, Cora, Kallo, and I to be specific, did not approve Ryder's decision to bring a pest onboard. Now I have to do extra maintenance and supervising to keep the thing off my equipment.

Speaking of which, Liam broke something again. It was either his thumb or his shoulder, I didn't exactly remember. As for Scott, I heard his bad leg is acting up again.

Due to the boys being unable to file an official report on their activities today, I took it upon myself to find out what really happened. I even had to bite back any cusses that nearly burst out of my mouth when Peebee detailed everything in long, extravagant words.

Long story short, a datapad at Prodromos' medical station told them that a group of wayward scientists attempted to study the Remnant robots by the use of 'unconventional' means. Peebee offered to come along in the event that she found some useful scraps for her studies.

They then trailed the scientists under the conclusion that they were in danger, and the pathfinder was right. The Remnant bots aggressively attacked the stranded scientists and were very close to killing them, had only Scott and the others didn't arrive on time.

What happened later can only be deduced by translating the raccoon asari's speech _very carefully_. Scott punched the leading person in the face for endangering his colleagues, and possibly the entire colonists on Eos. Although the situation was resolved peacefully, Scott was visibly angry that some people thought things like the Remnant are studied in careless manner.

Let's see...

I think this should be late afternoon. According to Kallo, we're leaving for the Nexus in four hours, assuming that whatever upgrades Gil installed to the Tempest is ready under that time. We should all be asleep for some time before we reach the station.

 _(Kithara : Good evening, master.)_

It's late afternoon, Kithara, and it's not even sunset yet. How are things on the Hyperion and the Nexus?!

 _(Kithara : All is good. around twenty five colonists will be sent to Eos in two days. As for the other Ryder, we're keeping tabs on her vital stats.)_

Do you wish to have her under our supervision?

 _(Kithara : For the time being, no. Let the medics look after Sara Ryder. Also, I suggest we postpone any indoctrination attempts on her, for her nerve system is still weak and largely unresponsive towards external stimuli.)_

Very well, then. Any data you can give us about the Kett? We are about to depart soon to the Nexus. Once you're finished with your analysis, we can then start comparing what we know about Milky Way species and Andromeda species.

 _(Kithara : Not yet, master. More specimens are required to produce consistent data. But as far as we got right now, the kett aliens are possessing obvious signs of extreme genetic tampering. The most noticeable features are the lack of gender dimorphism and reproduction organs.)_

That couldn't be possible, unless the DNA modification is responsible for that aberration. Then so be it, I'll send more samples as soon as I can.

 _(Kithara : Affirmative. Where's the pathfinder?)_

He's in the medbay, again. Both he and Liam got injured again, and despite the dry jokes from Dr. T'Perro, I could sense that she's getting uneasy on the boys' errant conduct. Alright, let's save this conversation for later. End of tonight's recording.

 _(Kithara : Are you still doing that?)_

What, recording my thoughts? It's the least I could do to keep myself sane.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 : Reflecting for the Future**

Let us begin in 3... 2... 1...

You know... I think I'm having too much information to process right now. I need to think, to reflect on a few matters.

You see, from the data we've recovered from the Eos vault, we found that the enigmatic Remnant structure is interconnected to a series of vaults at many other planets. One of them is currently active. Based on the data we have studied previously, and with SAM's quick breakdown, the vaults can be reactivated and have the planets they're located in become viable for colonization.

That was when people tried to force their thoughts. Peebee, always the dauntless traveler, excitedly demanded us to head straight to the planet with the active vault. Cora instead insisted that the Initiative's needs be fulfilled first. Liam, Vetra and Drack chose to abstain, despite the arguing sides begging for support.

I looked at the pathfinder. He was absolutely distressed. He was unable to make a big decision, seeing that it was the first time he was actually seen as a leader and people suddenly trying to exert their biddings as if it was some political debate show. The other teammates didn't try to diffuse the tensions, however.

That was when I took a bold step.

As soon as Peebee and Cora were out of words to throw at each other, I immediately brought some information to the meeting room's holo screen. While I also wanted to discover more about the Remnant, I also felt the need to have people woken up; people that I know will be beneficial for my personal studies. And so I calmly but openly explained the Nexus' situation to the pathfinder.

 _(Adana : Permission to express my mind, master.)_

Permission granted.

 _(Adana : While it's true that the Nexus still requires more resources, the outpost on Eos should be more than enough to supply them for three months, provided they woke up people suitable for the job. With that timeframe, you could've picked the asari's side and went exploring further.)_

Thank you for your input.

 _(Adana : May we know the reason you chose to stand with Lieutenant Harper, master?)_

I... originally I planned to have everyone onboard the Tempest lightly indoctrinated, to keep them capable of taking me around the Heleus Cluster. But as I interacted more with them, I began to see certain values that I might want to preserve. After all, these people are not simple-minded soldiers like Shepard was, but special people who have survived the harshness of the Milky Way's corrupt society.

To answer your question, my faithful 'child', I realized that we as a team are running low on supplies and essential grounds to outlive the Kett invasion. We needed people and assets too. I tried to reason with Ryder.

Of course, Peebee didn't want my logic to override her thirst for adventure. That was the very moment when I looked straight to Ryder's eyes and told him the following line; "Scott, please listen for once. I understand that you might want to explore, too. But please remember what happened on Habitat 7, and what happened to your father. The Initiative can't lose another pathfinder, for they are in great peril right now. We can't lose you too, Ryder. We all need you to do what is right for us. Help us find home for the colonists, and then we can all go sailing in space as you wish."

I had to say that in patient voice, while also walking slowly to him. Guess what? He bought it, with teary eyes!

As I had anticipated, the wayward asari tried to interject her opinion, but what I wasn't expecting is to see the lieutenant and the independent turian to stand at my side. Mister Kosta, after contemplating for a while, decided to join me as well. Only the krogan remained abstain.

Poor Peebee, although she claimed to accept the majority vote with dignity, she became rather sour in personality to everyone, especially me. At least Dr. T'Perro was able to keep herself as professional as always.

That was one day, fifteen hours and twenty two minutes ago. At this occasion, we have another edgy situation.

 _(Sharcov : Please elaborate, master.)_

Nakmor Drack came honest to Ryder about the situation on the krogan colony on planet Elaaden, its name is New Tuchanka. For your information, after the mutiny on the Nexus, which was poorly handled by director Tann, the entire krogan colonists brought along the journey left sans Kesh. 700 of them constructed New Tuchanka on Elaaden, while the rest fled to Kadara, a pirate planet full of sulfuric water.

 _(Adana : Yes, you've told us that before.)_

I know. According to Drack, there should be two clans conflicting for power over the sun-scorched moon, the Nakmor and the Jorgal.

Drack's contact, Jorgal Strux mentioned that the ruler of the colony, Nakmor Morda, plans on waging war with the Initiative. Nobody has intel on how or why Morda would do such thing, as New Tuchanka is heavily guarded from curious outsiders, and entrance cannot be granted to anyone unless you are a krogan or have a well-known krogan as your ally.

With this information in our hands, we decided to return to the Nexus to gather our stuff and speak with Tann and Addison about our new roster. If the data from Eos' vault is correct, there should be another Remnant vault that we can use to restore the moon from its desert hellscape state.

 _(Sharcov : Are you not afraid of Tann's anti-krogan stance, master? For all we know, he may do something to prevent our trip to Elaaden. You might want us to render him under our control until your task is finished)_

The belligerent salarian may do what he pleases, but as long as our future, and the Initiative's future remain undisturbed, we will continue. Don't waste your time with him.

...

Oh, I think I must upgrade my armor and certain parts on my mobile platform. New Tuchanka is located at the 'day side' of the planet. The sun never sets, and without a functioning vault, Elaaden's atmosphere does a poor job on filtering the sun's UV light. As a result, the temperature is around 90 degrees Celsius. Anyone not properly protected will die from their blood swiftly boiling in 75 seconds.

All that we know is that there are two more landmarks beside the colony, if Drack's information is to be believed. They are the Paradise, a kind of salvage yard for scavengers which serves as an armistice zone, and the flophouse, where the worst pirates and smugglers would gather when they are not shooting people.

I believe my armaments also require some upgrades. I'll go with the assumption that my Sidewinder pistol will be largely useless for the upcoming missions. SAM, alert me once we are on the Nexus. I must purchase a decent assault rifle, not the traditional Avenger rifle.

 _(SAM : Schedule has been prepared.)_

And Adana, please try to lessen your shackle on him, but don't give SAM too much freedom.

 _(Adana : Affirmative, master.)_

Good. If there's no more to be discussed, I'm calling it for the day. End of session.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 : Permission**

Let's begin right away. Today has been another hectic day, with a positive mood at that.

 _(Kithara : It largely came from our achievement. Don't be so excited, master. The worst has yet to come.)_

Our success on Eos has created a number of encouraging effects. New gears are now available for us to purchase, people are getting optimistic, and Tann out of all people actually congratulated us. He invited the pathfinder and his colleagues to discuss matters.

I have no accurate detail on the conversation between the directors and pathfinder Ryder, but from the summary he has given us, they were all hopeful but not entirely optimistic.

According to Ryder, Tann and Addison were fairly unhappy and cautious about our plan to visit New Tuchanka, as expected. Kandros, on the other hand, asserted that we have to gather as many allies as we could to weather the Kett occupation. Perhaps the krogans are not really the best of allies out there, but with the shortages on manpower and supplies, anyone who can fight the bone-aliens is welcomed.

Tann was, if Ryder's words are to be believed, torn between stopping us from getting close to Elaaden and to give us whatever we need to ensure the Initiative's continued existence. Kandros and Kesh went with the pathfinder's proposal, while Addison stood neutral.

 _(Sharcov : To sum it up, director Tann was forced to agree, as long as our journey doesn't ruffle his feathers too much.)_

You nailed it right.

The grumpy old krogan Drack talked loudly about threatening the salarian with kitchen knives during dinner, telling everyone present that if the director ever tries to stop us from continuing our journey, he'll serve the salarian's heart on a silver platter. Not the best kind of story to tell during dinner time.

As for the equipment I've planned to buy this morning, I went straight to the armament kiosk and found that the only available types of assault rifle they had are the Avenger and the Valkyrie. Between you and me, I don't like the Valkyrie at all, but the choices are fighting the desert pirates from a safe distance or get up close and personal at them. My Sidewinder and Viper both have heat sink system in place of thermal clips, but they are useful only in long-distance firefight.

 _(Kithara : But you still have your sword, right?)_

Not the best kind of weapon if you're surrounded by armored opponents.

I've also decided to change my chest armor with the N7 issue armor. Damn, it was unbelievably expensive. Would be better if we have the right blueprint and materials to construct it ourselves.

 _(Kithara : I'm surprised that you care about currency. You never truly care about organic's economy system.)_

I'm surprised you actually back sassed me. What's the situation on the station?

 _(Sharcov : For your information, master, we've been keeping a close eye on the Nexus' communication, watching for any signs of debilitating conflicts. What we found instead are the blatant incompetence of the people Jien Garson recruited for this one-way voyage. Just the other day, we witnessed someone trying to sabotage the Hyperion's life support circuit. The man attempted to frame two engineers who suspected that there was an intentional network disruption.)_

That's interesting, what's the plot twist?

 _(Kithara : The twist is, the saboteur didn't realize that the electric conduits he was trying to damage leads all the way to the Hyperion's restrooms, not the life support system. It might be fun to see the surprise being sprung, but we knew it wasn't polite, so we alerted Kandros' people.)_

Huh. Alright, that's it for today. Seeing that we are going to spend four to five days in space before arriving on Elaaden, I think we can all relax and prepare a few trivial things for our next exploration. End of recording.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 : The Desert part 1**

Begin recording.

The trip to Elaaden took us four days and nine hours. On arrival, we found that the temperature is brutally hot, seriously. Because New Tuchanka is surrounded by sinkholes and no feasible landing spot nearby, we chose to land on the Paradise, where a species native to Andromeda, the angara, made a small trading outpost.

As we stepped out of the Tempest, we had to stay in the shadows to keep ourselves from burning up. But even that is not enough, as I could see Cora and Ryder drenched in sweat under their armor. Heck, I could've sworn that my platform was going to melt under the blazing heat. Good thing the ship's air conditioner is working well as I recorded this video.

Speaking of the angara, I am very surprised to see that in a large, resource-rich cluster, there's only one sapient species. That is, if you discount the people who built the Remnant.

These aliens have the ability to utilize their own bioelectricity in place of biotics, akin to the electric eels that used to exist on Earth. They have bluish-pink skin color, no hair or fur, as well as muscle folds around their necks. Their eyes are blue and silted, giving a serious and deep expression. Their hands have three fingers, and their legs are similar to a quarian's. One of those angara I met on Paradise is named Annea, a female angara who owned the outpost like a queen. She established a ceasefire area around the outpost because, as she said, the travelers need her, and she needs whatever the travelers can give. Anyone who causes trouble is to be kicked out immediately.

What do you all think of her?

 _(Reaper minds : "She seems interesting"... "You're kidding"... "Looks like another quarian to me"... "Are these really the people of Heleus?"... "A little too soft to be traders, I think"...)_

Alright, alright, thank you for all the mumblings. At least the aliens were willing to give us a translation program to study. Their main language is called Shelesh. Since we're all still adjusting to the heat of Elaaden, Ryder declared that we execute exploration in T-minus 7 hours.

Doctor Lexi is currently studying the outlaws in discreet manner, due to most, if not all of the outlaws are behaving in a drunken behavior. Suvi and Gil are taking samples of iridium, platinum, and fluorite. Perhaps the minerals can be used to augment the Tempest.

 _(Adana : More fluorite? I thought this moon is rich with graphite and silicon, from the small samples we've gathered.)_

Just ignore her, my child. I don't think fluorite is fatally dangerous for humans.

In the meantime, Ryder took Drack to see Jorgal Strux. The shifty krogan mentioned that the crashed ship we saw before landing on Paradise is a Remnant ship, which instantly picked up Ryder's interest. Strux added that the ship has a powerful drive core that can be reconstructed into a special bomb that Nakmor Morda would use to blow up the Nexus. SAM's landscape scanning also revealed a set of monoliths that might conceal a Remnant vault under the sands, and also the infamous flophouse.

For the trip to the monoliths and the vault, the pathfinder elected Peebee, Vetra, and Liam to go with him. We must tame the moon if we want to create another Initiative outpost here. Drack and I will gather more news from the krogan merchants. Once the Elaaden vault is active, Drack, Vetra and I will be accompanying him to see the krogan ruler. Hopefully we can all get out of this place in one piece.

 _(Kithara : I must express my amazement during our first sighting of the derelict Remnant ship. If my calculation is right, the ship could be nearly as large as Nazara. I have this suspicion that the Remnant makers are a synthetic lifeform or biomechanical one.)_

 _(Adana : Didn't we already talked about this sometime ago?)_

I think so, but we haven't seen one of their starships up close like that one. Now, if Strux is correct, Morda's mercenaries would be swarming all over that place, trying to salvage precious materials from the ship.

Not much life are thriving on the moon's surface, aside from insectoid animals crawling about, some cactus-like plants growing here and there, and those red-leafed trees which produced a kind of medicinal sap.

Hmpf, I wanted to talk some more, but with the burning temperature, I must conserve my platform's energy reserves until three hours later. Children, please learn and translate this Shelesh language for our database, and don't wake me up unless there's something extremely urgent. Very well, end of today's recording.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 : The Desert part 2**

Good evening, or should I call it good endless day? Oh forget it, let's just get started.

At the time of this recording session, it has been twenty hours since little Scott and his first team wandered through the raging sandy landscape. He is now recovering from slight dehydration in the medbay alongside Liam. Vetra Nyx went there for a short while before returning to her duty in engineering deck, Peebee didn't stay long in the medbay; she pretty much snuck her way back into the escape pod room, where the team's Remnant material were salvaged from the desert vault.

Here, let me show you something.

...

As you can see beyond the ship's window, drizzle had been materializing around Paradise ever since Elaaden vault was fixed. Not only had the moon's heat dropped sharply from 90 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius, water sources are also about to form around the adjacent area, at least we don't have to worry about getting dehydrated as well.

According to Dr. Anwar and Kallo Jath, there is a high chance of flash flooding sometime after the drizzle finally goes away. With that in mind, we may have to scout high areas where we can place a viable outpost.

Also one thing worth mentioning, Peebee came at me when I was preparing everyone's meal. She said that, thanks in part to my earlier persuasion, she was able to gain plenty of valuable data from this moon's vault, including some Remnant drones. The asari asked me if I'm interested in studying the drones. I wholeheartedly agreed with her proposal, and she sent me parts and blueprints to examine.

Let's begin from the drones. SAM, show us the basics.

 _(SAM : Understood. The Remnant drones are classified by Peebee into four categories. The first is called Observer, and is the most common type of drone we encountered in both Eos and Elaaden. The Observers possess four flexible appendages under hexagonal platforms, scanning tools, laser weaponry, and a special kind of element zero core which allows them to fly.)_

 _(Negal : May I add that these ones are the most peaceful robots.)_

 _(SAM : The second type is the Breachers. They are less common than Observers, and also more aggressive. These ones have four bladed appendages with diamond-shaped bodies, weaker laser weapon, and the same flying eezo core.)_

 _(Kithara : I am about to devote my time in studying these Breachers. Perhaps one day I can utilize one as my mobile platform... until we can make an even larger one.)_

I will add a notification of that in my timetable. SAM, continue.

 _(SAM : The third type is called Assemblers. Unlike the first two, the Assemblers are largely docile as they carry more maintenance tools than the floating ones. Assemblers have two legs with no arms, small compact bodies, and short-burst weapons. The latest one is known as Nullifiers, and seemingly acted as walking turrets. They possess two pillar-like legs which create frontal shielding when attacking, a single wall-penetrating cannon, and large oval platforms.)_

I must say that I'm surprised at the number of drones the Remnant builders made. Back home, the quarians never bothered to construct flying drones at all; every geth platforms were fairly the same except for their size and identification.

Thankfully, the team recovered a wealth of Remnant materials as they went about the vault. Here, we have what Ryder called sprouted-seed vials, and then there are kinetic coils, drone body parts including their cores, and loads of polymer. If I can properly allocate these resources and flawlessly copy whatever project the asari is doing in her room, I might be able to produce drones that my 'children' can use to participate in explorations. The mined mineral supplies are also very appreciated. Now we have a surplus in graphite, vanadium, iron, and silicon. Element zero is still carefully distributed since it's the most valuable mineral at our disposal.

On the other hand, not much blueprints had been recovered and researched by the ship's technicians. We have designs for a Remnant armor set and a lightweight, plasma-based sniper rifle called the Shadow, but that's it. No amazing hocus-pocus or the like.

 _(Nemeth : You are seriously disappointed, master? Back home, you didn't care about the concept of 'pillaging through a necropolis for a holiday present'.)_

 _(Druzzo : Still a better gift compared to the stunt that raccoon asari allegedly did. Giving a walking turret a loud 'boo' from behind?)_

 _(Negal : At least the distraction worked.)_

Yes, yes, thanks for the input. I promise, once you all have your own floating platforms, you can go shooting the Remnant all day long.

Ryder's account detailed a number of pirate encounters. As expected, there are more human and krogan pirates compared to the turian and asari ones. From the pirates' loot, the team gained weapons that were illegally taken from the Nexus or purchased from Kadara, such as the Mattock and Harrier, Mantis rifle, Phalanx pistol and forked omniblades.

In my spare time, I took another opportunity to speak with Annea the angara merchant again. From her stories, it appeared that the homeworld of her species is a moon called Havarl. After voyaging across space for some unknown years, the scourge hit, and the angara entered a dark age. They reinvented space travel after many years, and reconnected with their lost colonies. As of now, their official capital lies in planet Aya. After much examination on the vault's planetary network, I found out that Aya is where Peebee originally wanted us to go. If this information really is true, then the ancient angara must have made contact with the Remnant makers, or at least discovered what we coined as 'ancient alien relic'.

There's not much info on Aya or its location, as Annea and the other angara were kind of untrusting towards the Milky Way colonists. Understandable, as I later learnt that her people had been waging war against the Kett for seventy years or so. Anyone captured by those invaders were never seen again, and nobody knows what the Kett did to them.

...

Oh, pardon me. I think Doctor Lexi is calling for assistance. If I have the time, I'll post some more intel. Signing off.

...

...

...

 _(Adana : Master didn't turn off the camera.)_

 _(Negal : Should we alert her now, like right now?)_

 _(Kithara : Oh, don't worry. She usually goes straight to the point when talking to the doctor. I'm sure she will return soon and turn the camera off.)_

 _(Negal : Why? Is she afraid that Dr. T'Perro might undo her disguise?)_

 _(Sharcov : Exactly... Ah, what am I seeing?)_

 _(Kithara : What is happening?)_

 _(Sharcov : Someone is tampering with the Nexus' security cameras, a male operator it seems. I'll track him down for now. Tell the master about this by the time she went back.)_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 : Krogan Tensions**

Logging on, I'm back everyone.

This time, I'm recording from New Tuchanka's eastern entry gate, due to a bunch of krogans making a ruckus at the southern gate. I must express my admiration at how these fat brutish lizards thrive on a barren landscape, with a little help from Kadara of course.

Their colony was made surrounding a trio of sinkholes and a cave network. Their edible plants are grown and cultivated around the large sinkhole, which correspondingly where their power generators are located. Armed guards monitor the colony 24 hours a day, and as we anticipated, only a noteworthy krogan like Nakmor Drack can bring friends into New Tuchanka.

Although the team, which included Ryder, Drack, Vetra and I were greeted with suspicion, the merchants and scientists inside were rather eager to trade some tools and information. One trader I met explicitly stated that Remnant objects are a highly valuable commodity. He flatly told me that two worm-like Remnant entities lurk in the north. SAM's intel suggested that the north is a massive sand dunes area. Other krogan soldiers likewise gossiped about how the Worms could be integrated into their Rite of Passage, which traditionally lured a thresher maw for young krogans to kill.

 _(Nemeth : If the two Worms are giant mechanical lifeforms, how are these lizards going to take them down?)_

 _(Druzzo : Who knows, they'll most likely use bombs or...)_

Regardless, we now have a new objective. Nakmor Morda, the bad-tempered krogan overlord welcomed us with irritation and bitterness, claiming that no matter what we'll do, her grand colony will survive just fine. Despite the pathfinder's attempt at politely greeting her in return, Morda saw it as a sign of submissiveness, and callously asked him if humans are as soft as salarians. The overlord demanded us to leave her colony right away, as I have motioned to Ryder to no avail, but a scout from clan Jorgal gave us a navpoint that leads to the ruined Remnant ship. If the data is correct, that will be where the drive core is, waiting for either Morda or the scavengers to steal it. It should be somewhere around the area patrolled by the Worms. Hopefully we can quickly get in and get out.

 _(Adana : We can give you quick assistances should the situation requires it.)_

Thank you. Please be very inconspicuous so Ryder and the others will not be alarmed. Therefore, I will end this session in preparation for the ship infiltration. Logging off.

...

 **xxxx**

Begin recording. Sorry for the whispering. Got to keep quiet.

According to my timekeeping software, it has been forty minutes after we left New Tuchanka, and half an hour since we entered the ship.

Tons of outlaws and Remnant bots littered our way, including attached railguns which nearly brought the old krogan to his knees had only he had no regenerative powers.

As if our ordeal was not enough, black smoke shot out of the ground and destroyed the power generator set up by them outlaws, leaving us to wander into the dark with only our gun-mounted flashlights. The smoke is concentrated almost everywhere, sometimes even preventing the team from walking down certain pathways.

Here, let me move the camera around. You can see how big this thing is, and it's so dark, although not actually foreboding. You can see all the mechanical architecture on the halls, the bridges, the machinery, everything. We could tell apparatuses and items left behind by scavengers, especially flares as if they camped here when they drilled through the darkness.

Ryder and Drack are busy moving debris aside so we can keep going. Vetra is gathering some more loot for us to study. As for me, I'm skulking around looking for alphabets and glyphs to translate; it's obvious that the Remnant makers had a writing system that is so different than ours.

There isn't much that I can decipher. Mostly these glyphs contain instructions on how to operate their technology like the doors, consoles and vaults.

 _(Kithara : Nothing relates to what they truly are, or how their society functions.)_

Precisely. The ship does hold more drones and resources than we already have, but no indication of a living quarter, or a comms room, or even a captain's private bunk for example. This correctly disqualified them from being 'organic' in nature.

As I continue this recording, I noticed that some parts of the ship are covered in thick black mists. The lights seemed unaffected, but the rest of the ship's machinery is malfunctioning. There, you can see it.

 _(Kithara : Those are the scourge's tendrils, or to be specific, element zero pockets which is full of unstable electrical charges like the scourge itself. If you've noticed during our travel, master, we passed through Remnant ruins surrounded by dark tendrils,. One of the angara on Paradise implicitly spoke that the scourge is attracted to Remnant tech. I believe this vessel crash-landed on Elaaden due to the tendrils seeping into its drive core.)_

Drive core... Damn it, we've wasted too much time here. Let's get going already. End of session.

 _(Kithara : ...You're welcome anyway.)_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 : The Desert part 3**

Begin recording.

Sorry, I have to recount my memories in proper order. One day of chasing down the drive core, and two days of building the outpost on Elaaden. I have more responsibility than I'd like to have in my timetable.

 _(Adana : Take your time, master.)_

 _(Negal : Shall we aid you in narrating the events?)_

Yes, please. I'm not in the mood to talk. Tell you what; I'll see what I can do with the drones I've promised you earlier. Just fill the video with any situation worth mentioning. Be well, 'children'.

...

 _(Kithara : Alright, the master has left the room. I shall speak first. This session is currently done in one of the buildings on Elaaden's outpost. We have yet to give it an appropriate name, seeing that the Nexus is still negotiating a few things and terms with the overlord. To summarize things, after the expedition team exited the Remnant ship, they followed a series of clues as to where the scavengers took the drive core. The stinger is; there was another exit blasted by those ingrates, an exit Morda had no knowledge of.)_

 _(Adana : The trail led our team to the flophouse, the one I believed had been discoursed before. We already knew pirates will be converging there. What the master didn't know beforehand was that Jorgal Strux's henchmen were traversing the premises, setting alarms all over the place as if forestalling someone to come over. The team fought them waves after waves until the flophouse is 100% clear of any bandits.)_

 _(Zeromus : And she found another stinger; Jorgal Strux was the one who stole the drive core.)_

 _(Kithara : Nakmor Drack did not understand what was transpiring at first. Both he and the pathfinder assumed that Morda is the one behind this, until they found voice-mails in which Strux declared his ambition to overthrow Morda. Armed with this knowledge, the team retrieved the core and hauled it all the way to New Tuchanka, where both the devious krogan and the overlord were arguing with each other. Ryder accused him of being a traitor, to which Strux admitted and proclaimed that he will bring the krogans of Elaaden to glory.)_

 _(Ragnuur : The big grumpy overlord then challenged him into a fist fight, to which he lost miserably and was subsequently banished.)_

 _(Damostl : Thief.)_

 _(Qonari : Thief!)_

 _(Annatoth : A thief and a liar!)_

 _(Sharcov : As a gesture of gratitude, and as a sign to finish business quickly, the overlord made a deal Ryder couldn't back off from. Morda used the drive core as her bargaining chip. The idea is; give it to her and a joint outpost is permitted to be erected. Keep it, and New Tuchanka will forbid the Nexus from ever contacting them.)_

 _(Kithara : Ryder agreed to her terms despite Vetra Nyx's worries. With that contract officially sealed, director Addison sanctioned the establishment of this post, although it has yet to be given a name and a mayor. At the very least, the drizzle made the heat bearable for the non-krogan colonists, more or less. The planet is appropriate for mining and metallurgy industries, although agriculture might develop well if they know how to plant robust crops.)_

 _(Sharcov : Is that all?)_

 _(Negal : Yes.)_

 _(Qonari : Let's end the session for now.)_

...

Greetings, have you done your task?

 _(Kithara : Master, you've returned three minutes faster than expected.)_

Yes, I am pleased to know that my research has gone smoothly for today. I predicted that you, or at least the most experienced of you, will be controlling my modified Remnant bots in less than four days. I've transformed some of my prototype designs so it'll resemble your previous Reaper vessels. Once we have the time, I'll let you utilize them for a drill.

Once you are in control of the bots, you may want to exercise with the appendages and maintenance function until you're ready for offensive training.

In the meantime, Ryder proposed that we visited the mystery vault Peebee told us. I relayed them the information from Annea, told them the planet's name is Aya, and is the official capital of angaran society. I gave them the Shelesh language translator for them to read, if possible we have to understand the basics of their speech before making an effort to land on Aya. The angara have been at war with the kett, and I don't think a surprise visit from a human will be courteously welcomed.

 _(Ragnuur : You have calculated every possibility, haven't you master?)_

Not all of them. Remember, we are in an entirely new galaxy. The norms of its nature and the sentient people in it should be completely unpredicted.

From Gil and Suvi's reports, we have to restock at the Nexus and hand over the reports regarding our exploration, regardless of Jarun Tann's reservations over our choice with the krogans. Wake up essential personnel, fill our armament with thermal clips and mandatory items, fill the galley with nutritious foods as per Lexi's request, and see if we have new assignments aside from the agenda to Aya.

Very well, if there is nothing else to say, then I will end today's session. Let's take a break.

 _(Kithara : Acknowledged.)_

 _(Adana : Affirmative.)_


	13. Chapter 13

**Snippets #1**

( **The following conversation is recorded from the galley by SAM. Doctor Lexi T'Perro and Natalie Homer are talking while typing things in a datapad.)**

Natalie : Dr. T'Perro, may I request an assistance?

Lexi : Sure, what do you need?

Natalie : Can you tell me basic information about fluorite?

Lexi : Well, to put it simply, fluorite is a colorful mineral, both in visible and ultraviolet light. It can be used to produce a wide array of glass or optical materials. May I ask why this information is needed?

Natalie : Dr. Anwar apparently has this unknown behavior. She, to put it simply, has no qualms on licking raw minerals. Do you think her action is safe, by any standards?

Lexi : ( _smiles wryly_ ) Regarding that, I'm afraid I can't tell you anything. But if you're asking about whether fluorite is safe to lick or not, I can tell you this; the mineral contains traces of iron and sodium.

Natalie : ( _snorts_ ) As in sodium chloride, like salt?

Lexi : No.

Natalie : Oh, thanks anyway.

 **(Doctor T'Perro leaves the galley. Natalie fiddles with her datapad, inputting the facts gained from the doctor. Some two minutes later, Scott Ryder walks in.)**

Natalie : Hello again, pathfinder.

Ryder : Hey. I was wondering if you could examine the files that I'm going to put in our journal list. Do you mind?

Natalie : ( _sighs_ ) For starters, pathfinder, it's called codex list, not journal. And yes, I have to check your spellings. I heard from Vetra that you are a bad writer.

Ryder : I'm not! She's... She was just flirting, not really telling me my writing sucks.

Natalie : ( _takes datapads from Ryder_ ) Fine, fine, But I'm still going to judge you. Alright, file one. [ _ **Eos ; designated Habitat 1, was the earliest "golden world" identified for outpost placement. Named for the Greek goddess of dawn by Jien Garson personally, Eos embodied the hope of the Andromeda Initiative for a new start. On arrival, the Nexus discovered that a world projected to be arid but comfortably habitable was now ravaged by radioactive fallout from the Scourge. The planet's atmosphere is wracked by storms that have spread the radiation across continents.**_

 _ **Activating the vault discovered below Eos' surface has had a dramatic and immediate effect. Radioactive particles are being stripped from the atmosphere by unknown means, and the resulting temperature changes are calming Eos' high winds. The planet's moisture levels are already showing improvement. Prodromos, the first Pathfinder-established outpost, has been founded in Fairwinds Basin, with Mayor August Bradley in charge. The Nexus is broadcasting footage of departing colonists and the new conditions on Eos across all communication channels.**_ ]

Ryder : Soooo, how was it? Good, slightly good, or less-than-good?

Natalie : ( _snickers_ ) You forgot to add the Remnant discovery stuff that we went through.

Ryder : Oh, shoot. Okay, I'll add it later. Can you check the other one?

Natalie : Here we go, file number two [ _ **Elaaden ; the scorching desert moon of a gas giant. Identified on the Initiative charts as Habitat 2, Elaaden was considered a "golden world," despite its harsh conditions, because of the moon's vast mineral wealth. Tidal gravitational effects cause plumes of sodium silicate to erupt from Elaaden's core, depositing unusually pure silicon sand across the surface - invaluable for manufacturing high-performance computer hardware. Orbital surveys show that contrary to projections, Elaaden is almost devoid of water vapor, making long-term settlement or mining efforts unlikely. Those who live on Elaaden face a constant struggle for survival. Able to thrive in environments that would kill most organic species in days, the krogan who departed the Nexus have established a colony on Elaaden and defend their sovereignty fiercely.**_

 _ **Elaaden is home to the outpost New Tuchanka, which is a cooperative venture between the Initiative and the krogan colony, founded by Nakmor Morda and Pathfinder Ryder; Mayor Kariste Archana elected.**_ ]

Ryder : ( _shifting around the galley_ ) No typos or anything, right?

Natalie : How about we add the Remnant ship and flophouse adventure parts? I'm sure Drack would be happy.

Ryder : Ah, forget that flophouse part. It's... embarrassing, to say the least.

Natalie : Haha, if you say so.

 **(Natalie hands over the datapads to the pathfinder before he leaves the galley. Natalie waits for a moment, then peeks outside the room; there doesn't seem to be anyone around. Satisfied, Natalie returns back and places a mysterious box full of Rem-tech on the table. She is seen working with the objects until an hour later.)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Snippets #2**

( **The following conversation is recorded from the pathfinder's bunk by SAM. The ship is in off-hours, and the only active crew members are Kallo Jath, Scott Ryder, Vetra Nyx, and Natalie Homer.)**

Kallo : All systems are green, pathfinder. Auto pilot mode is active for twenty minutes. I'll be up in fifteen, then we can continue to Aya.

Ryder : How long till we get to Aya?

Kallo : three hours, pathfinder. That should be enough time for you to grab some coffee.

Ryder : Got it. Dismissed.

 **(Kallo leaves the room to the bathroom. Vetra and Natalie enters the room shortly after.)**

Ryder : Oh, hi girls.

Natalie : I'm honored, really, being called girl by someone younger than me. I'm not your girlfriend you know.

Ryder : Oh, come on. Don't be angry. Besides, you two are here to give me back my dinosaur toy, right?

Natalie : What toy?

Vetra : ( _shows everyone a dinosaur doll_ ) This thing, I borrowed it from Ryder 'cause I got some sleeping issues lately. Sorry if it freaks you out.

Natalie : ( _snatches the doll_ ) Really? The amazing pathfinder spends his nights sleeping with a doll, and... oh, figures, this is a raptor toy right? Who does it remind you to anyway? Sara or her? ( _nudges Vetra_ )

Ryder : Seriously, girls, don't be sad that I kept this for Vetra.

Vetra : I knew it! You have a thing for me, admit it!

Natalie : Fraternization. Figures. ( _making a mocking gesture_ )

Ryder : No, absolutely not a fraternization. This isn't a military ship, so we can mingle with whoever we want, and that's not a cheap excuse, so forgive me for having a dinosaur plush onboard. Besides, ain't it cute, like her? I believe SAM knows that Vetra enjoys sleeping with it.

Natalie : Be glad Vetra is not a real raptor. You know, they have pointy teeth, sharp claws, predatory nature...

Vetra : ( _giggles_ ) And don't forget, we are 85% carnivores, well, we were... and still are. So don't mess around with your girl, Scotty, or I'll bite you in your ****.

 **(Natalie leaves the room with an amused smile. Scott and Vetra spend the next half an hour chatting about various things like his favorite dinosaurs and the female turian's favorite smoothies. Meanwhile, the camera caught Natalie walking quickly and silently to the tech room, where her equipment are strewn about, among them are beetle-like drones fashioned from the Remnant bots' designs. Kallo seems to have fallen asleep until fifteen minutes later. As the two people are soon sleeping with each other in the pathfinder's bunk, the camera noted that Natalie is working swiftly with her tools.)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 13 : Ceremoniously Unwelcomed**

Begin dictation. 3, 2, 1...

As the team had foreseen, our trip to Aya was largely uneventful. Firstly, we ran into a Kett blockade where a flagship momentarily disabled our ship's systems.

A Kett named Archon demanded an audience with Ryder, before declaring that we will all be captured alive. Ryder tried to negotiate with this Archon creature, only to be bruised off with the following quote; _I will not explain to you what you cannot understand_.

It sounded so standoffish, if you asked me.

Secondly, SAM successfully wrestled the Tempest back to our hands, with a little help from Kithara of course. However, we initiated a dogfight very close to a scourge field, causing our drive core to become unstable. The long-awaited destination was already close, thankfully.

Arriving on Aya, we were greeted with guns directed to our faces, well it was actually Ryder who initiated the first-contact protocol and ushered around in gunpoint. Thankfully our Shelesh translator worked, so he had little difficulty in communicating. The real challenge was to convince these cobra-headed aliens that we are not Kett. Paaran Shie, the official governor of Aya, warned the pathfinder to not talk with her people, stray off from her, or to reveal any weapon.

 _(Qonari : SAM gave its report as well. Aya has active tectonic plates, which is why around 60% of its surface is covered in lava and volcanic ash. The colony's capital city is located somewhere tropical, where there's enough water and plant life to support the small angaran city.)_

Hmm, so that's why the population is below one million. Still, they are very resourceful and creative. I'd be happy to study their technology and incorporate it into ours.

 _(Ragnuur : Also an information worth mentioning, the angara are very expressive when it comes to their personality. Future experiments with their psychology should be scheduled.)_

And now we return to our pressing situation. In order to win the trust on both sides, Ryder personally asked help from the leader of angaran resistance army, Evfra de Tershaav, a no-nonsense person who required the pathfinder to do certain tasks under the watch of his right-hand soldier, Jaal ama Darav. As of now, Ryder tried to share bits of knowledge to Jaal, who currently resides in the ship's tech lab. I was lucky that I could 'evacuate' my working tools before he came.

SAM, remind me with two schedules.

 _(SAM : Ready.)_

Number one, alert Kithara, Sharcov and Negal that they are going to Havarl with me. Number two, begin psychological tests on Jaal by teaching him our language, see if he likes it or confused.

 _(SAM : Schedules arranged.)_

After we left Aya, I requested the new squadmate to introduce himself, telling that it's the norm of Milky Way people. He was suspicious but compliant, at least he didn't utter derogatory insults.

He explained that, in order to gain Evfra's acknowledgement, the Tempest must aid two planets; Havarl, where its unbalanced ecological growth is threatening angaran scientists, and Voeld, where their conflict against the Kett is intensifying. Drack is unimpressed at the prospect of having another mouth to feed, while the raccoon asari appeared indignant for not being allowed to look around. She seems to easily forget crucial intel.

 _(Nemeth : You mean the whole 'ungracious greeting' from the angara?)_

Precisely.

Let's see what time it is right now... The clock says it's close to midnight. I'm so grateful I'm doing this session from the meeting room, or deck, whatever you call it. I could be so talkative especially when I have so much intel to process. Sometimes I hardly even remember that I'm a synthetic entity when under excitement.

 _(Kithara : Master, I have a... far-fetched theory, if it can be called that.)_

Elaborate.

 _(Kithara : Remember that the Citadel's receiving signal can extend as far out as the dark space? My theory is that we are still connected somehow to the Citadel as a collective, but not entirely. This theory concerns on our unusually lax organic behavior, such as harboring resentment for a pirate's traitorous nature or delight over new discoveries. As time goes by we began to stop being our Reaper-selves. This is where my unease surfaces; with our minds being so far away from the Citadel, what will happen if we suddenly stray away from our original goal? What if, instead of trying to impart the glory of ascension to the ones in Andromeda, we find ourselves too invested in saving the Initiative?)_

 _(Adana : I never thought someone would finally brought this up. Even I find myself slowly stopped being... mechanical, as one might say it.)_

That's... a good question, Kithara. So, let's say for our next mission on Havarl, we'll just spend our time on the Tempest or walk around the premises and talk to anyone friendly enough to share Havarl's history. From what Annea told us, that was the angara's homeplanet, so obviously there has to be some history about their previous generations.

 _(Ragnuur : And how about the wildlife, shall we take some useful samples?)_

If we're going for a hunt, try not to goad me into bringing live animals onboard. Lexi will have my processor core if even one animal sprayed mud on the floor.

Alright, I believe that is all I can talk for tonight. Our entrance on Havarl is estimated around three days and seven hours. Any other issues can be debated AFTER we are done with that. Ending of recording, logging off.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 14 : In the Jungle**

Let's begin right away.

We are now recording from the Tempest's crew quarters. The ship is currently landed on Pelaav Research Station, one of the very few science outposts owned by the angara on Havarl, also known as Daar Pelaav by Jaal ama Darav. This is a heavily overgrown planet.

Jaal accompanied the pathfinder and Vetra to see the scientists on the station's command center. they are obviously unpleased with the Resistance's best soldier bringing aliens to their homeplanet, but nevertheless allowed Ryder to organize his team to find missing scientists.

Lieutenant Harper and Peebee went out after they're gone to ask questions to the angara scientists, what kind of planet Havarl used to be, and whether or not there are any Remnant artifacts that can be salvaged. Doctor T'Perro asked me to gather samples of plant life and wildlife. She told me that antidotes might be necessary for the crew to boost their immune system against the planet's chaotic environment.

That was a fairly good time for me to test my Remnant drones. As per my earlier schedule, I took Kithara, Sharcov, and Negal to do some hunting. Good thing their long-distance control over the drones is seamless, more or less.

 _(Negal : It was a good training. Our mobile platforms were small, no larger than a dining table, but agile and easy to use.)_

On that I have to agree.

While we waited for the pathfinder to return, we carefully collected leaves, flowers, and seeds from the plants around the landing site. We could tell, based on the samples' genetic structures, that whatever the Remnant vault did here, it caused the whole planet to be covered by rainforests. Doctor T'Perro noted that most, if not all of the plants are too hazardous for consumption. Their rapid growth also damaged any structure within days, Daar Pelaav is no exception.

Once that part was done, we came back out and searched for animals to chase. Let's talk now while we have the chance.

The first thing to note is that the challyrion here is a subspecies of the one from Eos. The ones on Havarl have spotted hide similar to leopards from Earth, and a lot more aggressive like Tuchankan varren. There's also a canine lifeform known to the angara as adhi. Challyrions rely on stealth, while these adhi uses brute strength and large number to take down prey. I was satisfied to see Kithara's drone taking three of them down with slight difficulty. Scale fibers collected from these beasts by Sharcov and Negal could prove useful in manufacturing elastic materials.

Insectoid creatures seem to have made Havarl their home, as well as a type of carnivorous plants that I immediately burned down using my omnitool's flamethrower. Good thing Ryder wasn't there to see it. According to one angara, the most common insects that lurk around Daar Pelaav are drall, kaerkyn, and echidna. These are easy to kill, and filaments of invertebrate shell taken from their corpses are useful in creating kinetic padding.

On our way back, we were beset by a lanky bipedal creature with a finned tail. It was fast and venomous. Upon its demise, Kithara used his appendages to dissect the beast, and found it to be a monotreme, instead of a dinosaurian reptile that I thought it was. We cautiously preserved its venom gland, forked tongue, fangs, and also its scales as we later noted that the thing's scales are stronger than the challyrion's.

 _(Sharcov : Than was interesting, master. The animal was able to use its own venom as projectile weapon, although in return its bite power wasn't as strong as the tail strike.)_

 _(Kithara : Wouldn't want your first flight trial in Andromeda be ruined by an alien dinosaur, would you?)_

Regardless, all samples were successfully submitted to both the asari doctor and Dr. Anwar. Plus, I've added a note for Suvi to keep her from licking any of those.

 _(SAM : Master, pathfinder Ryder has returned to the station. He asked for a change of team members.)_

Alright. You three, let's go find more Remnant. The rest of you, archive whatever information Suvi got from the bio samples. End of recording.

...

 **xxxx**

My, my, what a big adventure we just had. I was so glad that my platform is waterproof, after running here and there through the rain and misty rivers.

 _(Kithara : And don't forget about the influx of materials that we gained along the way.)_

Yes, renderable plates from large animals, samples of nickel and platinum, plus more Remnant ingredients to modify.

You see, the scientists were not so optimistic about Havarl's longevity. In two years or less, the entire planet's ecosystem would collapse, unless its vault is accessed and restored. But to do so, the angaran sages of Mithrava must be convinced to bring assistance. Easier said than done.

First, the team consisting of Ryder, Drack, Jaal and myself has to traverse a massive aqueduct full of Remnant bots, wild beasts, and a faction of xenophobic angaran that Jaal referred to as the Roekaar. Even with the three of my drones brought along at Ryder's permission, and at my command to stay silent, things were not so easy. Much to our dismay, this Mithrava turned out to be a labyrinthine tower infested with Remnant bots. Even worse, the sages themselves were too pessimistic to actually offered help, aside from telling us that a Remnant expert, Zorai, was allegedly died and reincarnated as a Roekaar agent. The only way to bring him to his previous self is to present him with a personal artifact.

 _(Nemeth : I still can't believe it, even with the report being written in great detail.)_

 _(Druzzo : Neither do the rest of us.)_

But that was what we all saw, a ruthless soldier suddenly relapsed into his past scholar self.

One sage, Esmus, ordered us to visit a Remnant base to retrieve an artifact belonged to Zorai. We then fought our way into the Ancient Courtyard where the Roekaar has set up multiple bases. It is when we found Taavos, the one sage Esmus told us to find. By presenting him the artifact, the angara slowly remembered memories that surfaced from 'his' past.

With the path to Havarl's recovery laid before us, Taavos led us back to the aqueduct, where the planet's third monolith can be located and activated. It was in a cave littered with Observer drones, and also Zorai's final resting place. An audio log left behind by the scholar revealed that the deceased angara was in truth a female, while Taavos is a male. As we walked around, the reminiscing angara voiced what he could remember about Zorai. Ryder and SAM activated the third monolith and we went back to the Courtyard to access Havarl's vault to turn it on.

With the vault working properly, the invasive plant species began to rot, as well as the poisoned wildlife. New ground-pollinating species replaced the dying ones just as stable weather appeared after the constant rain.

As we recorded this from the meeting room, everyone onboard, including Lexi, stepped off the ship to witness Havarl returning to its former beauty. The sages of Mithrava decided to help Daar Pelaav scientists to rebuild their civilization on Havarl.

 _(Qonari : Director Addison has assembled a batch of botanists and chemists to work alongside the angara. Pathfinder Ryder will have to stay a bit longer to oversee the transfer procedure.)_

 _(Kithara : I have a theory on this 'reincarnation' process. Seeing that angaras possess bioelectric power, it could be that their technology reacted to the bioelectricity of certain people, perhaps even family members. This might relate to the Prothean's ability to store information by the use of biochemistry and skin touch.)_

 _(Adana : Still does not explain why Taavos referred to Zorai as himself instead of her as a third person. Protheans evidently did not believe in a soul's rebirth.)_

Another subject worth investigating.

Our success on Havarl gained some approval from the Resistance, but we're still far away from a full alliance with the angara. In six hours and forty minutes we will be leaving to Voeld. I should probably prepare two more drones for Ragnuur and Adana. Make sure you are present for the flight test. Hopefully we can gather more resources to create larger drones, preferably without anyone noticing.

I will post more information as we travel to Voeld, until then we will remain under the radar. Logging off.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 15 : Alone with My Children**

The camera is on. Let's begin.

Before I start telling what is going on right now... Kithara, try to contact the Citadel with any frequency you can utilize. Please don't ask anything.

 _(Kithara : At once, master.)_

...

...

Well? Is there any luck?

 _(Kithara : Negative, master. The Citadel is, for a lack of a better phrase, rejecting our transmission. We could send signals to the station, but it felt like something, or someone else is already establishing itself as the Citadel's master control and preventing us from reaching it. We suspected it to be an Artificial Intelligence with our programming codes embedded into it. Normal AIs cannot interface easily with the Citadel's innumerable processors.)_

Figures, it's been 600 years since the last time we know anything about the Milky Way. Worse, our behavior really is turning into a complex, organic-like mindset, although with our hivemind mentality intact. So we really are disconnected from the station.

I feel like a child right now.

 _(Kithara : Suggestion?)_

For now, we'll assume the harvest was lost. The armada in the home galaxy was defeated, and for unknown reasons, the Citadel is... stolen from us. Don't propose to me that we should take over the Nexus, it wasn't built by us and I have no aim to keep a racist bumbling salarian like Jarun Tann under my thumbs.

 _(Kithara : Affirmative.)_

...

And now, we move into the usual topic, my unbelievably boring life, far away from the galaxy I used to call home. As of now, we are recording from Eos, Site 1 Promise at 19:25. Why in the universe did I chose to be here, accompanied by my drones, some of them are nearing completion?

Before the Tempest left Havarl, I spent our remaining hours there to study the effects of infrasonic soundwave on Havarl's diverse wildlife. Ryder and company were waiting for a delegation of scientists to arrive from the Nexus; therefore I could do my research without too much distraction. You see, my mobile platform has a concealed infrasound emitter somewhere around the head, which is why I am capable of indoctrinating certain people, like those two doctors back at the Citadel.

I took precise note on what creatures can be rendered subservient by the infrasonic wave, what runs away when exposed, and what went berserk.

 _(Sharcov : Thank you so much for luring so many challyrions to our position, master.)_

I have no idea if it was praise or mockery, Sharcov, but we did gain valuable intel on how to manipulate indoctrination on non-sapient lifeform. We then decided to expand the experiment a little further by silently exposing a stray Roekaar angara with gradually increasing amount of infrasound. The alien, who was previously serious-looking and watchful, slowly became restless and paranoid, constantly looking around him as if he was expecting someone to come charging at him.

Unfortunately for us, Ryder was done with all the handshaking and pleasantries with Daar Pelaav personnel. He ordered the crewmates to return onboard and make preparations for the Voeld expedition. I went back the last; making sure that everyone else was too preoccupied with changing their clothes so I could sneak the drones into the ship.

The following events ended up changing my schedules once again. Pathfinder Ryder is no longer our concern or priority as of now.

Ryder received some vidcalls that Addison or Bradley required more people be awakened and sent to Eos. Ryder obliged and sent out the previously spoken orders to the staff members on Hyperion. Bradley needed field scientists and anyone with decent survival skills. After that, we made a detour to Prodromos.

 _(Ragnuur : Then out of nowhere, Ryder requested you to leave.)_

His reasons were mostly about having to save some space so that Jaal Ama Darav will not feel too crowded aboard the ship. But as I left the tech lab with my tools, I overheard the old krogan and Doctor T'Perro gossiping about my departure being influenced by Ryder's to-be 'girlfriend', who was none other than Pelessaria B'Sayle. You heard that right, the immature raccoon asari.

The doctor wondered if my more professional approach in handling Remnant technology is drawing Peebee's jealous, while Drack seemed content with his idea about me being too motherly towards everyone onboard.

Thus, here I am, purposely sneaking away from my team when we were dispatched to patrol some Remnant ruins not far from Site 2. I did some countermeasures to keep anyone from following me around. Good news is; nobody got killed.

 _(Sharcov : Actually, TWO bodies were faultlessly brought under our influence. The master wasn't really the best at sneaking around, but she did have backup plans in hand.)_

Yes, these two soldiers were improper and lazy in their services, so we might say. It's easy to brainwash someone when you are far away from a working civilization, less people to sneak around, and less people to make excuses to.

Concerning the materials necessary to continue my research, Site 1 is strangely abundant with them; minerals, electronic fragments, whatever I need to construct more Remnant drones for my 'children' to use. It appeared that the Kett were too busy gunning down Initiative personnel instead of poaching the site for resources. If I run dry of materials, I can go out for a while and see what we can actually do with the Kett and their technology.

 _(Kithara : I have a suggestion as to how we should proceed forward. Considering that we still possess our one billion-year old database, we might as well try to reverse-engineer the Kett's technology and integrate them into various technology blueprints reaped from the Milky Way species long harvested. That way, we don't have to rely too much on the Initiative's largely inefficient tools.)_

If so, then we have to move out of Eos, preferably to Elaaden, seeing that the planet remains infested with outlaws and Remnant ruins. Unless we can take out a Kett base and occupy it before the Initiative does, we might have to prepare for our departure to Elaaden in three to four months from now.

 _(Nemeth : You wouldn't want to be here forever, master.)_

I know. Soon or later, Bradley will notice something is wrong. He either hand-waves it as the Kett doing annoying things like always, or suspects a greater scheme at work.

Very well, the time is now around 20:30 Eos time. Let's just rest while we review some important info from the Nexus, just in case something new is happening. End of recording, logging off.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 16 : Invictor**

I am Reaper Intelligence! Begin dictation...

 _(Kithara : Master, please, hearing that Kett saying 'I am Invictor' over and over is already tedious. We don't need you repeating that line every so often.)_

Sorry, one week has passed and I have started to embrace my inexplicably free-spirited side. However, let's put that apart, for we have yet another documentation to do.

As I've stated mere seconds before, one week went by with some good progress on our side. Firstly, seven drones accompanied me to inspect the sunny plains of Eos as it experiences sporadic raining.

Kithara, Sharcov, Adana, Nemeth, Negal, Druzzo, and Qonari performed their tasks using their respective drones with excellent aptitude. They did good work on mining the ground for minerals, fighting Kett troops with agility and clever battle tactics, as well as tapping into Prodromos' communication system through the use of long-distance hacking. The modifications I did on their mobile platforms made them being similar to giant beetles instead of the cephalopods their previous platforms used to be. Still, they are no more larger than a regular shuttle.

As for the Kett, we recovered lots of strange and disgusting materials, added with one dazed Kett we strapped on a table before we began the recording session.

Alloy made by Kett seems to be different from Milky Way alloy, mainly due to the fact that Kett technology uses plasma power instead of element zero. Their other materials, such as sealant and enzymatic tools don't seem to have much usage aside from the money we could make out of them whenever we sold the objects to Prodromos. Their weaponry, on the other hand, provided significant insight into whatever science the Kett have gotten themselves into.

As for one of their land vehicles currently in our possession, Kithara and Negal noted that it resembles certain types of container vehicles from Earth and Khar'shan. Not the best kind of rover to ride through the rocky plains of Eos, but still better than having to walk on foot. We used it to investigate some Remnant sites for more Remnant bot samples.

 _(Sharcov : It's good to know that we are not running out of Remnant tech, at least until next month.)_

 _(Druzzo : We better not, master. There are dozens of us here itching for actual field training.)_

Don't worry about it yet. With mineral supplies and Remnant constituents found on daily basis, around thirty of you should be able to experience field work in Andromeda within one month. Although, I'd rather have those two slaves be sent to purchase more element zero caches, plus some more graphite, magnesium, iron, and cadmium. Should I find myself short on weaponry, the ingredients sent our way might be enough to construct a new gun or sword.

About that Invictor person...

 _(Nemeth : Don't say it.)_

 _(Qonari : Don't say it.)_

 _(Kithara : You really do have affection for that phrase of his, don't you master?)_

I'm not done yet. We were surveying the Sheartop Mountain, an elevated field located just above the round cliff protecting Prodromos when we spotted a massive military facility protected by electromagnetic shielding. We instantly knew it belonged to the Kett after witnessing Kett dropships flying in and out of the base. We were in the process of leaving when we heard a Kett named Invictor. 'I am Invictor!' he would said, issuing commands to his underlings coupled with threats of execution.

 _(Kithara : I am eager to show that alien the price of his prideful boasting. Also as a note to self, I'd be happy to keep his facility intact as a gift to my master.)_

Yes, yes, but try to save your anger until I have enough substance to create a better version of your platform. Go smack the slaves if you wish.

As we drove around the cliffside, we discovered a cave leading straight to and from Prodromos, it's a wonder the Kett has yet to deploy a full-scale invasion using that cave. What we found in its place were piles of stasis pods from ark Paarchero, the salarian ark, guarded by a platoon of Kett. My drones and I brought them down fairly quick, and we began examination on the pods right away.

One voice recording revealed the Invictor speaking about one salarian captive in a derisive manner. The salarian in question tried asking him for help in Tonaizhet, the Kett's language. The Invictor, in return, had his men disposed of the captive for outliving his usefulness. Normally, I would imagine Ryder and his teammates snorting in disgust about the Invictor's treatment, but I find myself wondering; if the Invictor did truly spend his time to directly interrogate the salarian, how come they came in possession of those pods? Why did the Kett have so many of ark Paarchero's pods in one place?

...

 _(Ragnuur : We just formulated a theory, master.)_

Specify.

 _(Kithara : The Kett broke into and/or captured the salarian ark. Perhaps due to safety concerns, they hid the ark away so that they could study any information about the Milky Way species in secret. Plus, salarians are not really the brightest species when it comes to fight-or-flight scenarios. Instead of trying to defend itself or running away, the salarian in the recording attempted to communicate with the Invictor in a friendly manner. What if that behavior became the ark's undoing; inviting an unknown species onboard with the intent of studying them, only to be attacked as soon as first contact is established?)_

 _(Qonari : Also another thing worth thinking about, the ark sent no distress call, whether to summon help or to keep everyone at bay. We rummaged through the Nexus' communication records and found no mention of any distress call from Paarchero.)_

That one could be explained away as the Kett ships disabling the ark's comms systems, ensuring that no help would come at all.

But think about it; the ark's systems are so damnably intricate. How did the Kett damaged the ark if they just met the salarians? It could be someone among them was disabling it intentionally, but without concrete data, we can't be sure.

Nevertheless, we should probably put this issue away for now. Kithara, set a schedule for tomorrow morning, we are going to toy around with the captive Kett in our laboratory. We'll see if indoctrination works on these aliens.

 _(Ragnuur : Why don't we tell SAM to do it instead?)_

SAM is no longer a part of us ever since we left the Tempest. Fortunately, I was able to erase crucial memories of the AI which have us interacting with it. Ryder will never know, hopefully.

 _(Kithara : Affirmative, master.)_

End of recording.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 17 : Exaltation and Indoctrination**

I AM INTELLIGENCE! Sorry, beginning session in 3, 2, 1...

As I have stated rather excitedly last evening, today we are going to prod our Kett prisoner, to see what makes it tick... and what will make it pitiful. My 'children', please select at least three among you that will serve as co-interrogator, restraining agent, and translator.

 _(Kithara : I'll take the first part.)_

 _(Adana : My platform's claws are strong enough to confine the test subject to its bed.)_

 _(Sharcov : Then the translating duty falls to me.)_

About that, I think I'll delegate one of the young ones to speak Tonaizhet to the Kett, as a practice of course. Rhanaia, would you like to take the role in place of your elder?

 _(Rhanaia : Certainly, master.)_

Very well. The time is now 06:55, we shall now initiate the experimenting schedule.

...

Wake up, prisoner. Wake up and smell the splendid air of Eos. I am Natalie Homer, a one billion-year old synthetic life from the Milky Way galaxy who chose to fled here to escape my death at the hands of one human supersoldier. I will have you reveal to us what you truly are, where you came from, what is your goal here and stuff like that.

(Kett : You alien, worthless. Release me!)

Is your translator working properly, young one?

 _(Rhanaia : Yes it is, master. The Kett called you worthless.)_

Perhaps you would like to administer some 'treatment' to this alien, Adana.

 _(Adana : Not yet, master. Let us first break him with our influence. That way, we won't have to spend so much time talking to a homicidal creature like this.)_

(Kett : You are robot? Curse you! We hate robots! Lord Archon hates robots!)

 _(Rhanaia : The Kett's culture seems to consider beings like us as blasphemy, master. Even the Archon is allegedly allergic to synthetic entities.)_

If what you said is true, then I guess we will have to see how well the Kett fights indoctrination. Kithara, bring in my infrasonic device I've prepared on the working table. As for you, alien, do you know what infrasound is? Allow me to give you an abridged version taken from the human System Alliance's scientific archives. Infrasound, sometimes referred to as low-frequency sound, is the sound that is lower in frequency than 20 Hz or cycles per second, the "normal" limit of human hearing. Hearing becomes gradually less sensitive as frequency decreases, so for humans to perceive infrasound, the sound pressure must be sufficiently high. The ear is the primary organ for sensing infrasound, but at higher intensities it is possible to feel infrasound vibrations in various parts of the body.

 _(Adana : That means you can't hear it, but you can feel it damaging your ears and brain if you're exposed to it for too long. That is, if you have ears to listen and a brain to think like a sapient being.)_

There is more, apparently. Animals have been known to perceive the infrasonic waves going through the earth by natural disasters and can use these as an early warning. But on sapient creatures, infrasound may cause feelings of awe or fear. Since it is not consciously perceived, it may make people feel vaguely that odd or supernatural events are taking place. It will even give you sleeping disorders.

 _(Sharcov : Submit your free will to us, and we will make the experiment easier. Try to fight back, and... you'll know soon enough.)_

(Kett : Let me go! You are robots, monsters to us!)

No. Kithara, if you would? Begin in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Turn it on.

...

Now answer our question; what are you?

(Kett : Release me!)

 _(Kithara : Increasing infrasound frequency by 5%. Stand by.)_

(Kett : Hurt, stop it... Go away!)

Answer our question; WHAT are you? WHO are you?

(Kett : No, no no no too loud, release me... release me!)

 _(Kithara : Increasing frequency by 15%. It's still resisting our power. Adana, keep holding him, we are not done yet.)_

(Kett : No, no, no, too loud... Get me out... stop stop stop stop... What am I seeing? What... what is this?! Aliens, robots, everywhere...)

 _(Rhanaia : The Kett is hallucinating right now. The tactic seems to be working well, Kithara.)_

 _(Kithara : Increasing frequency by another 15%. Everyone, lend the master your support.)_

 _(Reaper minds : We are assuming control of your form! Your being is fragile. We are the glory of ascension for you, surrender to the darkness! Surrender! Surrender!)_

(Kett : Monsters... everywhere, kill... no, capture aliens, exaltation must... kill... Stop stop stop stop stop STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! I, I... yield. I surrender...)

Alright everyone, that's it for now. Kithara, turn off the device and gather the present drones at the living room. Adana, Rhanaia, keep monitoring his condition until 11:15. We need to make a coherent list of questions to ask him. Let's end the session right now; we'll start again at 12:30.

...

Begin recording.

The time is now at 12:35. After some contemplating, we've agreed on using subtle but continuous indoctrination to make the Kett speak to us. Too much infrasound, and the Kett will become completely inert, but too little and it will have time to retaliate. Here, you can see a datapad with queries written to it, but we've decided to cross out some questions for whatever excuses. You see, the Kett had been sleeping for a few hours after we were done with it, but scans of his neural activity from Adana indicated that it was experiencing a deep sleep, possibly with surreal dreams and visions. From what my 'children' could tell, the Kett is seeing bits of our memories in Milky Way, so obviously he would witness the harvests being done in the distant past. Here we go again.

Good afternoon, Kett. I am Natalie Homer, the master of the very beings that you saw in your nightmares. We once controlled the Milky Way for a billion years, and we may or may not choose to lord over the Andromeda should we find your kind worthy of our 'blessings'.

(Kett : ...I understand, master...)

 _(Kithara : Let's initiate our conversation with this one; who or what are you?)_

(Kett : I am Kett, I am a Chosen, exalted from an angara.)

You spoke of this exaltation frequently. What is it, and what does it do to your kind? Tell us everything.

(Kett : Exaltation is gift, given by Lord Archon. Lord Archon said we were wretched aliens, so we were exalted. He created serum, and his faithful servants gave us serum. We are now evolved, for we have been granted gift of exaltation. I was angara. Lord Archon said angara are pitiful, primitive. Lord Archon wants to help angara reach glory by exaltation, but he wants Remnant too. Angara knows Remnant, but we don't, so they are taken from home.)

So that was why the Archon stopped us from reaching Aya, he knew Ryder could manipulate the Remnant. But most, if not all of the Remnant troops are synthetic entities, just like us. No, wait... I think I considered the wrong conclusion. The Kett invaders do not trust Artificial Intelligences, not all kinds of robots. They just didn't know how to phrase it. Maybe they sought synthetic armies that they can control, not ones that can think for themselves.

And this exaltation... the Archon created a serum of some kind that forces evolution on whatever alien infected with it. Why?

 _(Kithara : Prisoner, why the Archon desired to exalt aliens? Can you not breed?)_

(Kett : No. We do not breed. Breeding is for primitive non-ascended races. We are evolved and gifted. Exaltation is the future for everyone.)

 _(Kithara : Do you remember your life before exaltation?)_

Kett : Yes, fragments of memories in my mind. Lord Archon said to us, ignore the memories. We must serve Empire faithfully. We must find Remnant for him.)

So, the assumption we can construct for now is that the Kett either contracted a species-wide contagion which greatly reduced their population, or they somehow experienced genetic stagnation which made normal propagation insecure for their young. In desperation, they fashioned a new method to replenish their number. As dedicated as it sounds, I don't think I can sympathize or condone this action. Not only are the Kett sending other species to extinction to save themselves, they also don't think outside the box. In a sense, they do not study the possibility of using other aliens' DNA to cure their doomed genetic nature, but instead feeling unperturbed with their newly-acquired status as alien locusts.

Worse, the captured aliens can only remember figments of their lives after receiving the serum. When you think about it, you might feel sorry for them, trapped in their own mind as the Archon laid out new rules of life before their eyes. This is no salvation; this is outright galaxy-wide pandemic.

 _(Origae : I'd say, we exterminate the Kett for unleashing their plague on this galaxy! We might not have sufficient force or mass relays to control, but in time...)_

 _(Chrion : No, we should render the Kett under our might. They have been a race of planetary locusts for too long. It's time they are given retribution for ruining a galaxy with their plague, even though Andromeda isn't where we came from.)_

 _(Negal : The master didn't authorize you to speak your mind, younger ones!)_

Actually, I do need your voices. Even the salarians and turians with their genophage wouldn't be so brutal and thorough like the Kett, unless something immensely pleases them. Heleus Cluster would be awfully empty if the angara are gone, let alone the entirety of Andromeda.

Hmpf, I will have more modified Remnant drones ready for some of you. We are going to capture more Kett and have their tech reverse-engineered. In two days we are to commence another expedition to the Sheartop Mountain. Until then, we are logging off.

Oh, and Kithara?

 _(Kithara : Yes, master?)_

Kill the prisoner and feed it to the challyrions outside.


	20. Chapter 20

**Snippets #3**

 **(The following activities were recorded by a Reaper named Danaur. Natalie Homer is standing outside her cabin, overlooking the small pond on Site 1: Promise as she attempted to contact the Tempest.)**

Natalie : ...Eos to Tempest, I repeat, Eos to Tempest, does anybody hear me?

Kallo : shfshhfsh... hear you, this is the Tempest's pilot, Kallo Jath. Who am I talking to?

Natalie : It's me, Ryder's sniper who got kicked out of his team. May I have the pathfinder's latest status, in case I could offer some assistance?

Suvi : Ah, hello again, Nat. It's been weeks since the last time we met. How are the Prodromos' colonists? Is there anything urgent?

Natalie : Everything's fine. I've been spending my time taking out Kett patrols since I came here. Don't tell Bradley, though. I'm a lone wolf sniper, for your information. As for your second query, nothing is in dire need. I'm just wondering what might've happened to Ryder without my support.

Kallo : sfhsfhf... alright, the pathfinder is currently filing reports on our trip to Voeld. The angara are very happy that we... sfhshfhshfs... freaking comms system. Gil must have tampered with the ship's system. Do you mind if I left you two for a while? _(Kallo sighed very loudly)_

Suvi : _(Giggling as Kallo left his seat with the auto-pilot mode on.)_

Natalie : Something I should know about?

Suvi : Ah, nothing serious. It's just that last night, Gil tried to prank Kallo by adding a teaspoon of angaran alcohol into his tea. It wasn't a hard stuff, but apparently it's enough to send our pilot into drunken state. Ryder and his girlfriend pretty much helped the prank without being caught.

Natalie : Nice job saucing the best damn pilot the Nexus has.

Suvi : You didn't see it. Kallo was soooo jumpy last night that he almost did a tap dance with Drack. Good thing he snapped out of it, if not, well... you know what'll happen. Do you think you could set a small party for us at Prodromos, Nat? Anyway, I'll try to upload some of Voeld's data to you once we are done compiling it. It may take some time, so you can do some other things while you wait.

Natalie : I'll see what Bradley has to flog. Don't make it too rough, however. I'll be excepting you guys.

Suvi : Will do. Nice talking to you, Nat.

 **(Dr. Anwar disconnected the call. Natalie walked back into the cabin. The currently present drones were waiting for news.)**

 _(Kithara : Anything worth mentioning?)_

Natalie : Nothing, aside from Ryder's report about his snowy vacation on Voeld being completed as we speak, and that Kallo was made inebriated by the crews to have a tap dance with the resident krogan.

 _(Adana : Nice job trying to seduce a ship's pilot with intoxicant drinks.)_

Natalie : That was MY line! Well, at least technically... How are the new drones?

 _(Kithara : Right now, there are 9 of us that are active, and another 7 are scheduled to be ready for field missions in three days.)_

 _(Sharcov : Two, if we speed up our timetable. Resources will have to be allocated for the drone construction.)_

Natalie : Do it. We are going to gather a small army of 'repurposed' Kett to bring down the Invictor.

 **(As the drones returned to their previous tasks, Natalie Homer headed to a computer console to work, most likely awaiting their results and in anticipation of incoming data from the Tempest.)**


	21. Chapter 21

**Snippets #4**

 **(The following activities were recorded by a Reaper named Xenara. Natalie Homer was sitting in front of a large table, making adjustments to three Reaper/Remnant drones.)**

Natalie : Is there anything new from the Tempest? Any greetings or jokes from Liam, Cora, or the raccoon asari?

 _(Adana : Only unrelated messages telling us that Pelessaria tried to indulge herself with angaran booze, snowball fights, and Remnant research. Also embedded in the messages was a throwaway line which said she's working on a 'proof-of-concept' for her use, most likely exploration-based.)_

Natalie : As in trying to proof a number of Remnant-related superstitions?

 _(Adana : If you're talking about how precursor races are always blindly portrayed as benevolent beings, like the Remnant for our case, then no.)_

Natalie : _(Scoffed)_ I don't think the Remnant are said to be benevolent. Addison told Ryder about how Prothean technology, based on standard Mass Effect technology we purposely left behind, is simply plug-and-go. Remnant technology is not made with Mass Effect concepts in mind. _(Another scoff)_ Who knows the Milky Way species are slowly becoming lazier as cycles came and gone, feeling scientifically superior through the simple process of copy-paste.

 _(Qonari : And now we, the scientists of Andromeda Initiative to be exact, are doing exactly that. Using and copying the Remnant tech without understanding how to build them in the first place.)_

Natalie : In our case this very moment, we are merging the knowledge from both galaxies into one. At least we have some understanding on how they work.

 **(A ping from the computer alerted everyone. Natalie was the first one to answer the call.)**

Natalie : Yes, who am I talking to?

Peebee : _(In a distorted drunken voice)_ Heeeeeyyy, long time no see, fellllooow adventureerr...!

Suvi : Hey, Nat. I'm sorry, I'm very, very sorry but right now Peebee's so high that I can't move her into her bed. Ryder and the others are overseeing the construction of Taerve Uni after we beat the Kett command center on Voeld's mountainous terrain.

Natalie : _(Dumbstruck, or at least pretending to be)_ Taerve Uni?

Suvi : It's an Initiative-angaran joint outpost we agreed to establish after the major blow we struck to the Kett. Oh seriously, where's Lexi when we actually need her?!

Natalie : You might be able to prepare SAM or...

Peebee : _(Yelling while singing)_ I don't neeeeed Lexi, everyone, I'm fineeee! Be happy guysss, the sun is here! Angaras are singing and shaking hands and hugging and drinking and...

Suvi : Alright, SAM, please alert everyone outside that Peebee needs medical attention.

 _(SAM : Alert issued. Ryder, Liam and Doctor T'Perro are coming right away.)_

Natalie : Tell you what, please just send the data over here so I don't have to interview anyone onboard.

Suvi : O-okay, I'll send it in five minutes. Take care and be careful, Nat.

Natalie : You too, Doctor.

 **(Natalie disengaged the call as Peebee could be heard singing loudly from the ship. Turning to face her both active and non-active drones, Natalie's face can be described as expressing cringe.)**

Natalie : _(Rubbing her head)_ I think it's safe to assume the asari is...

 _(Kithara : No need to define it, master. We could hear her too.)_

 _(Ragnuur : Should you need someone to silence her voice forever, master, I will volunteer myself at your order. I can slay her with nobody noticing.)_

 _(Negal : Save it for the Kett. Soon or later, Ryder will be too preoccupied to keep everyone alive, leaving his crew, the asari included, fighting for their own. Let the bone-aliens and outlaws have their thrill with her, we will not squander resources for one wayward child.)_

Natalie : In that instance, we should direct our focus on building mobile platforms for all of you, as well as indoctrinating as much stray Kett patrols as possible before letting ourselves loose upon the command base on Sheartop Mountain. Try to overload their comms systems with digital viruses, and have our Kett pillage through their defenses, then we kill the Invictor and assume control of the base. Make sure any Kett landing on the base are exposed to the infrasound after the takeover.

 **(The drones went back into their previous duties after Natalie gave her discourse. The recording noted that some of the older Reapers, likely to be Kithara and Adana, are next to Natalie, apparently studying the information which just arrived sometime after Suvi bid her farewell.)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 18 : Thinking For A Night**

The camera is already on, our recording starts in 3, 2, 1...

I am Natalie Homer, and now we are going to spend our evening on Eos talking about three things we've done and learnt in the past four days. The first one being the data from Voeld, the second is our 'illegal' shipment from Kadara, and the third is our success on capturing two Kett patrol groups through the use of prolonged exposure to infrasound.

Rhanaia, please elaborate the basic information regarding Voeld.

 _(Rhanaia : Of course, master. From the Milky Way, the Initiative identified Voeld as Habitat 6, a "golden world" projected to be a life-sustaining and temperate garden world. This is confirmed by angaran historians: Voeld was once a heavily populated and thriving angaran colony._

 _During the Scourge event, gravitational distortions affected Voeld's orbit. Models from the Nexus tech labs show how this triggered a minor ice age. The angara were forced to withdraw to a few urban centers, with the rest of Voeld's population scattered in smaller settlements. Voeld is therefore both culturally and strategically important to the angara, and has drawn the attention of the kett. Reports suggest a significant military presence on both sides, as the Angaran Resistance fight to defend Voeld's population and protect the ice-encased remains of their world._

 _The Initiative's new outpost, Taerve Uni, has been safely established. Led by new mayor Priya Blake, Taerve Uni is committed to open borders with the angara as Voeld becomes more habitable. The outpost is now a major supplier of water ice to other colonies and the Nexus._

 _Analyzing Suvi's orbital readings, it appears that the Voeld vault, unable to gravitationally compensate for Voeld's change in orbit, has triggered a controlled melt of frozen carbon dioxide in the permafrost. Projections show this will thicken the atmosphere, gradually raising Voeld's temperature to ease the ice age. This reveals that Remnant vaults are capable of sophisticated analysis and response to planetary conditions.)_

It appears that the Scourge is indeed capable of ruining an entire planet's structure, including throwing a planet out of its orbit, how frightening. As far as we could understand, the Scourge would either disrupt a planet's atmosphere or destruct any Remnant-related constructions, based on our observations on the Remnant ruins around Eos, but that planet proves that the Scourge is much more dangerous than it initially shows us.

In my opinion, Voeld is lucky to have its orbit pushed away from its star. At least they still have water in the form of ice. Should Voeld became closer to the star, it might have ended up in a similar state to Elaaden, having no surface water in any form.

 _(Ozacca : We agree. However, the angaran Resistance force seems to thrive amongst their ice-covered settlements with no advanced technology aside from their heat-emitting lamps. The Kett allegedly utilized the same type of lamp to keep working.)_

 _(Damostl : One of these reports suggests that the angara are highly dependent on sunlight to keep their biological needs in check. Should an angara being left without sunlight for too long, the body will become sick rather easily. But of course, all creatures that are not cave or sea-dwellers must receive a fair amount of UV light to support a balanced growth.)_

Your comment does make sense, although I found myself wondering a bit when I read the data. Earth and many other worlds back in our home galaxy experienced a number of 'Ice Ages' that came and gone in a seemingly periodic manner.

Voeld, on the other hand, is believed to stay frozen for decades after the Scourge hit.

Negal, lay out a straightforward information regarding the term 'Ice Age'.

 _(Negal : Affirmative, master. An ice age is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of a planet's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Within a long-term ice age, individual pulses of cold climate are termed 'glacial periods' or alternatively 'glacials' or 'glaciations' or colloquially as 'ice age', and intermittent warm periods are called 'interglacials'.)_

From this data, we can make a hypothesis that even with Voeld's Remnant vault active, the planet would still be in its Ice Age period until many, many years later. It could be good news, in the sense that we can mine as much ice as we could to make water for the Nexus and the colonies, but it could also mean bad news, in the sense that, once Voeld stops being a giant ice ball, its surface will be majorly covered by seas.

The Resistance, especially Jaal, was very pleased with pathfinder Ryder's progress. The intel includes his victory over a Kett slave camp, reconnecting two angaran camps which were cut off from their main base, defeating and destroying the Kett command base on Voeld, and the last but not least, discovering an ancient angaran city buried beneath the ice with an insane Artificial Intelligence begging to be put down forever, in which Ryder fulfilled its wish. Evfra de Tershaav was supposedly satisfied with Ryder's progress with both Havarl and especially Voeld, he actually did sanctioned the founding of Taerve Uni, our outpost made by both angara and the Initiative.

Further down the intel, we learnt that the miners on Voeld successfully mapped out a great number of mining location rich in beryllium, cadmium, and Element Zero. There you go, another streak of luck in our part, a second planet rich in Eezo.

By the time the report was finalized, the Tempest was going back to the Nexus to discuss the possibility of receiving diplomats from Aya. Despite the high amount of optimism among the colonists, we have yet to gain the angara's trust; Moshae Sjefa is still missing, and we, the pathfinder's team I mean, are tasked with the Moshae's rescue once new intel is acquired.

Alright, that is all we can talk about Ryder's Voeld journey. Let's talk about the shipment from Kadara. We took some time to redesign the tools using blueprints which originated from nine Milky Way cycle ago.

 _(Kithara : Master, didn't we already argued about this some two days ago?)_

You're not talking about how Kadara's items are all useless and cheaply made, are you?

 _(Kithara : That's the point. All the resources that we've gathered to prepare for the assault on the Invictor's base were spent on remodeling the smuggled tools, although we tried to manage our assets carefully.)_

I've already told you that our materials are running low already. Seeing that we won't get any more resources until next week, I'd rather maximize the usage of whatever we have left. The Invictor has realized that two of his patrol squads had failed to report in after a few days and is sending his search teams everywhere across Eos. On the other hand, Augustus Bradley is becoming very suspicious about my disappearance as well, if the news from Prodromos is to be believed. It'd be better if we move out of Eos for a while and return once we have enough force to crush the command base. Both Qonari and Sharcov advocated that we hide for some time on Kadara, where the pirates and thieves are too busy shooting at each other, they won't notice if we try to build our army there.

 _(Kithara : And risk Sloane Kelly or the Charlatan of the Collective to uncover our mission? You know how much they hate each other, and I don't think the emergence of a prominent third party is welcomed by either sides. I'd rather have our big family moved to Elaaden. As far as the krogans of New Tuchanka knew, the Kett never made their presence known, and so no concrete action was taken against them. After all, there are less outlaw there compared to Kadara, therefore fewer witnesses to deal with.)_

You forgot about the necessity to combine both the Initiative's mundane tech with the Remnant tech. Kadara has a lot of them, and let's face it, everything on Elaaden are sold or smuggled from the sulfur-filled planet.

Hmpf. Shall we just agree with it then, hiding in Kadara? Alright, now we arrive at the last segment before we organize our departure tomorrow.

Firstly, I must express my most sincere applaud to Druzzo, Adana, and Zeromus for flawlessly disabling the first Kett squad, and another applaud for Nemeth, Xenara, and Ozacca for detaining the second team. It took them like three days or more to truly capture them all using restrained but uninterrupted indoctrination, but in the end, all went without too much trouble.

 _(Adana : Thank you for your compliment, but our job is still far from over.)_

 _(Nemeth : It is good to know that we are making significant headway in our objective.)_

In the previous recording, we found out about how the Kett exalted angaras using their specialized virus to transform the angara into 'Chosen' Kett. Now, we had the opportunity to study the indoctrinated Kett without the need to tie them up on a bed.

Aside from the most common Kett we've fought so far, which comprised largely of Chosen Kett, there are also two other types called Behemoth and Destined. The Behemoth Kett is a division made from a bulky alien species which name and culture were lost to exaltation, they carry with them a Kett-designed assault rifle and frequently accompanied by Wraiths. Destined Kett is another offshoot made from an alien species that was tall, lanky and horned, also very likely to lose their entire civilization to exaltation. Another grim reminder on how organics tend to dominate one another when it comes to first contact wars.

The two brainwashed humans pretty much lost their usefulness at the Kett's hands, and in return we gained a small army of fifteen Kett under our power. Since we're going to have our base located close to undamaged Remnant structures, I'd say we had better be able to obtain more Remnant tech to use until months later.

Very well, the time is not midnight yet, but we should all be ready for tomorrow. The recording session will continue once we are safe and sound on Kadara, but until then, logging off.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 19 : Adventures**

The camera is already on, let's start right away.

I am now making a live recording from our base that is overlooking a large open plain in Draullir, one of Kadara's hot spring fields. Let's say, our trip from Eos to Kadara took some ten hours or more, giving me enough time to devise accurate assessment on what we have here on the planet, and to prepare for any unwelcomed encounters. Consider this session to be the day one session.

I must first admit that I was wrong about the possibility of finding easy access on special gears that we called for. As you can see from the camera, we are settling ourselves in a large mining camp prepared by bandits from the Port. Originally, we thought they would hide their best equipment here, but after we killed them and took over the camp, nothing precious could be salvaged except tiny quantities of extracted iron and palladium.

 _(Kithara : I've countlessly told you that; there's no use to mourn at this moment. Nevertheless, let us head straight for the planetary analysis. Despite the apparent toxicity of Kadara's sulfuric water, the flora and fauna seems to have adapted remarkably well, including the likes of shemrys, adhi, rylkor, and eiroch that we studied on Havarl. There are plants that are suspiciously similar to Havarl and Eos' plant lives, suggesting that the Remnant builders engineered these creatures to fill the ecological food chain on whichever planet they seeded with their technology. The plants, thanks to the high sulfur contamination, had become wildly diverse in genetic structure, perhaps as a means to harmonize their genetic mutations.)_

 _(Ragnuur : Problems appear to become worse than previously thought. The plants either secrete or release chemical substances that could cause varied reactions from insistent allergy to hallucinations. At least, the effects would look that way to Milky Way species.)_

And this entirely-altered biosphere caused a stern conflict between the angaran colonists, which were terrorized by Kett troops, and the Initiative exiles, which invaded the Kett-occupied Kadara Port and made it their throne. Almost all of the planet's plants and animals are too... unsafe, shall we say, for consumption. A specialized water filter is needed to sanitize any traces of sulfur from the water before anyone can drink it. And who else knows how to survive on Kadara if it wasn't the angaran immigrants. Remember, we are talking about exiled people with unbridled lust for wealth and power, not saintly pilgrims who will treat anyone as equals.

Sloane Kelly, leader of the exiles, ruthlessly slaughtered every Kett she could find, and turned the angaras who came to understand what just took place into her slaves. All of their machinery and properties were taken away at Kelly's gunpoint. Those who found themselves disillusioned by her authoritarian headship went off the grid and united under the name of 'The Collective'. They had been a thorn in her side ever since.

I'm glad we didn't have to tow our land rover here. The ground terrains are too perilous to be traversed by land vehicles.

 _(Adana : That's when the Kett shuttles came in use, master. When we went out to indoctrinate the Kett scouts, we likewise had them hand over any kind of objects and utensils useful enough for us to transform into working tools. The two shuttles were no exemptions. With them in our custody, we were able to add five more Kett into our ranks...)_

Before we disposed of the remaining three Kett, and have their bodies blown next to a gas tank to keep Kelly's henchmen from reporting unusual activities here in the badlands.

Well... Maybe that's all we can talk about Kadara and its unfriendly aspects. Now we recap all that we've done in the course of day one. We came down onto the planet slightly far away from the Port, swoop in to kill some outlaws, took their stuff before throwing some away, and then we spotted two inactive Remnant monoliths. Before the shuttle fully touch the ground, I jumped out almost instantly to activate the first monolith because I felt safe enough, having two dozen Reaper drones with me.

The same thing couldn't be said for the next one. At first, we saw a crook walking away from his friend to smoke a cigarette. The next thing we knew was that he ran back to his camp, hot on his tail were a pack of adhi and a rylkor, apparently attracted by the piercing smell of his cigarette. We had to wait for a quarter an hour until the beasts were satiated with their free meal before I could inspect the monolith.

When I came out, Daval, Zeromus, Sharcov and Druzzo are busy dissecting the animals for organic materials.

...

See that tower over there? That's the first monolith. It is located in a small cave-like chamber, at the west of our camp. Now, if you go up there, to the third floor... excuse me... there, see that one? At the northwest of our camp, there lies the second Remnant monolith, in an area called the Sulfur Springs. You can see the top of its tower.

Our next priority is to activate the third monolith, located at the northeast from our current position, and then enter the Remnant vault to procure all necessary materials to keep building our army. From the seventy-or-so Reaper minds that I've carried all the way to Andromeda, twenty four of them have gained their mobile platforms. Let's see if I can increase the number to thirty five, at the very least.

 _(Kithara : In addition to that, we have twenty Kett working for us. If we can find more Kett, I would advise you to add ten to fifteen more Kett to our ranks.)_

 _(Daval : It seems we have to rely solely on indoctrination power to gather our army. We do not have any Dragon's Teeth to create husks, and we are still years away from suitably merging both Remnant tech and the old ones' tech to properly construct one. Furthermore, we might need some brainwashed pirates to serve as a foil to the Invictor; we'll have him chase down the bait while our main bulk invades the base.)_

And for that, I thank you for your ideas. We shall see what agenda we can pursue tomorrow.

 **xxxx**

Let's start our recording again. This is day two session.

You can see, as I approach it on foot with Kithara and Adana, the third monolith. We have to reach this place by walking because of its proximity to the slums and the Port. Get any closer, and we'll risk being hunted down by the exiles.

Behind us is an 'abandoned' post. It's not really abandoned per se, as it serves as a place to grow narcotics by some banished scientists called the oblivion. While the owners' away, I had Nemeth, Damostl and Qonari to raze the whole place and bring home anything that can help us fulfill our goal here. Ah, here we are, the final ticket to Kadara's vault. Do me a favor and look for any missing glyphs, you two.

...

 _(Kithara : Glyph one and two found. What's your progress, companion?)_

 _(Adana : Hold on... glyph three found, there are no more glyphs to scan.)_

Thank you. Stand by while I activate the Remnant. You may welcome Nemeth and the others, but do not leave my side. Interfacing starts... now!

 _(Rhanaia : How are things here?)_

 _(Kithara : The master is activating the Remnant monolith. Once this is done, we can spend the rest of the day to find bandits to inject with the oblivion drug. There should be six to eight of them that we can turn into our 'bait'.)_

 _(Rhanaia : How does oblivion work?)_

 _(Kithara : Unknown, but at the moment, Qonari is studying their properties and effects on Milky Way lifeform. If we can appropriately use it to subdue the pirates long enough to be indoctrinated, then we may have to stay on Kadara a little longer to produce a suitable quantity of the drug.)_

 _(Rhanaia : If you say so.)_

...

Alright, the monolith's active! We can do some more preparations at this very moment and... Hmm?! Incoming message from SAM. Strange, we haven't heard anything openly from them ever since last week.

 _(Adana : Play it, master.)_

 _(SAM :_ _ **(recorded message plays)**_ _To Natalie Homer, I'm Scott Ryder, in case you've forgotten about me. The Tempest team is done exchanging information between the Nexus and the Resistance just minutes ago, and at the present we are very sure that we have intel on where Moshae Sjefa is being held right now; another Kett base on Voeld. We won't be going straight away, since Evfra and Kandros are rounding up their best agents for the infiltration mission. If the news is correct, the mission commences in three days._

 _I understand if you're angry or sober after we... after I unceremoniously kicked you out of the team, but if you don't mind, we need you for this one astonishingly special mission. Once we are done, you may decide one whether you want to stay wherever you are, or to join us again. Thanks for your time.)_

 _(Kithara : I am... dumbfounded right now. We are going back onboard.)_

 _(Nemeth : Not you, big one, the master! As far as the pathfinder knows, we do not exist, but she is. If the master agrees to go, who will manage our assets?)_

If so, then our schedule must be altered quickly, we have to enter the vault soon, and have the rest of our belongings hidden to keep away any reservations from the team. How about we venture into the vault tonight, an hour after sundown, and tomorrow we clean up our stuff?

I'll send a memorandum to the Tempest to pick me up tomorrow at Kadara Port. In the meantime, elect two ascended between you to maintain our tools and slaves.

 _(Rhanaia : Who will be the one in charge of the assets while you're away then, master?)_

 _(Sharcov : As the master said, we elect two of us... and I'll volunteer as the first one.)_

 _(Negal : Not so fast, comrade. I have more experience when it comes to organizing indoctrinated forces, therefore I volunteer to be a keeper... and I vote Kithara as my partner.)_

 _(Druzzo : No. You and I shall look after our belongings. Kithara and his best companions can go along with the master; she'll need his immense experience.)_

 _(Kithara : I disagree. As the oldest of our small community, I shall delegate all of you that are present with the following tasks; Druzzo and Sharcov, you will watch over our Kett with eight other ascended. Rhanaia, Qonari and Nemeth, take the rest of the ascended and manage the resources carefully, and don't let anyone steal them. Negal, Adana, you two will come with the master alongside me. She will require all available information that we can give her. Any questions?)_

...

 _(Druzzo : All is clear.)_

 _(Nemeth : You can count on us, companion.)_

 _(Kithara : Good, I'll send her our plan's proposal. Hopefully everything will proceed according to our idea.)_

 **xxxx**

Alright... Begin recording, this is... day three. The sun has finally risen.

I am feeling strangely fatigued at this time, although I've checked my platform over and over that its power reserves are still in 'safe' levels. Perhaps I'm having mental overload?

 _(Kithara : It's not your fault that the Collective found us by surprise. We ought to be content, knowing that none of the hitmen survived to alert anyone on Kadara about our presence.)_

That I can agree on.

On this morning, I shall relay all the information we could extract from the vault. First of all, I was accompanied with fourteen drones led by Kithara when we left our camp exactly an hour after sunset. We boarded one Kett shuttle and located the vault's entrance somewhere in Haarfel, at the north of the Port. We made sure that no one was following us before seven drones and I entered the vault via the gravity well.

We soon noted the differences which set that vault apart from any other vaults; for your information, Eos vault was filled with massive winding pathways and rooms. The vault on Elaaden was, to put it simply, crawling with strange insects. The vault on Havarl, believe it or not, became a haven for big predatory plants to grow in. I never said anything about the plants because of how repulsive they were. This time however, we found the vault obscured in sulfuric vapor. Our trip was... hazy, I honestly can't find better words to explain it. Worse yet, there were large Remnant bots called Destroyers with machine guns on its left and right; these types were never alone as we found out the hard way.

We didn't take too much damage, for your relief, but we almost exhausted our power reserves, although our reverse-engineered Remnant weaponry didn't ran out of ammunition. Knowing that our path to the main control room was still far away, we took our chances and wandered through the side tunnels, where an assortment of Remnant resources could be gathered, including inactive models. I made contact with the outside drones waiting just outside the gravity well, telling them to carefully come down to collect the materials as we proceeded to the vault's center.

As the vault underwent its restart protocol, we raced to the exit as the vapor faded away, replaced with the red smoke coming out of the vault. We had a hard time navigating the vault, both when entering and exiting, due to the presence of omni-gel pools everywhere in there.

 _(Kithara : Our ordeal was apparently over after completing the restart procedure, only to resurface when we approached the outside. Several pirates, both humans and turians, noticed our companions coming in and out of the vault. We met them just as we exited the vault's entrance and spotted them skulking about next to our shuttle. In a fit of frenzy and panic, the master immediately gunned them all down, leaving nobody alive.)_

 _(Sharcov : There is no use ranting about it.)_

 _(Ragnuur : There is always a tomorrow to refocus on what matters the most.)_

I know! There's always a second time and... No, you're right... I'm so enraptured with my own thoughts that I didn't realize it. We are still here, in the badlands where nobody cares about what happen here. No one will come to check, and no one will say anything.

But I am still trying to find justification for my irrational act. We examined the victims for anything. We found that they were the soldiers of the Collective, tasked with espionage missions to disturb Sloane Kelly and her loyalists. According to their omni-tools, they are to report everything, people wandering where they shouldn't be, items and cargos being where they shouldn't have, anything.

It's so easy to be paranoid in a place where people murder each other. At least on Eos, we have an excuse to disappear, but here? Anyone would notice if something abnormal is going on. Anyone would see it. Anyone would talk about it.

 _(Negal : And that is where the crooks come in. They are drawn to places that are gossiped about by people.)_

In a sense, that's the idea. Leave no witness alive so that people won't gossip about us, so that no one would come looking for us.

Alright, seeing that we don't have all day rambling about this, I'll have to carry on with the proposal Kithara had designed for us. My 'children' are split into two groups to look after the properties and slaves that we have. Three 'children' will accompany me back to the Tempest, and Voeld for Moshae Sjefa's liberation, provided they successfully remain silent whenever someone is in close vicinity to us.

Hmm... Let's see, in three hours, the Tempest is due to arrive on Kadara Port. I might be able to sprint all the way there, but I think I'll have to use a shuttle to conserve energy. Fine, since we didn't have much time discussing antics, I will end this recording session and gather my equipment. You three, get yourselves ready. For the others, head to you stations and do your jobs. We'll land on the third monolith and work our way to the Port.

Logging off.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter 20 : Welcomed Back**

Begin recording.

...

 _(Kithara :_ _ **(whispering)**_ _Master, the camera is already turned on.)_

What? Oh, pardon me. I was a bit busy designing blueprints for my new rifle and armor set.

Right, we shall start with how pleased I am now, being back in a spaceship that cruises through the void of outer space.

The Tempest picked me up some fifteen minutes after I arrived on Kadara Port. Good thing too, as my presence was observed with wary stares from the exiles, particularly because of my armor and guns, and my three drones as well. The ship was similarly watched around-the-clock by Kadara snipers, seeing that it is an Initiative ship. Thankfully, Kallo Jath was merely asking for refuel, and we were able to leave in short time.

My reappearance on the Tempest is, to put it with dramatic phrases, nonverbally celebrated. Doctor Lexi T'Perro performed yet another medical scans to ensure that I don't bring any disease onboard the ship. My platform's systems were pretty much in full alert, doing all that I need to keep my disguise unveiled. I can't believe she is still as persistent as ever, and I don't think there's a safe way to escape her attention had only little Scotty didn't barge into the Medical Bay looking for a sleeping drug.

Kallo and Dr. Suvi Anwar were slowly creating a strong kinship to me. I patiently told them all that I've beheld during my travel, although they didn't know that most of those experiences were purposely mixed with fabricated elements to keep them from finding out the truth.

The rest of the team seems rather fine around me. Jaal was eager to hear anything concerning his kin from Kadara, even though his expression gradually turned unhappy. Drack asked me whether there is any edible stuff I bought from Kadara Port, while Vetra wondered if I have seen some of her shady business contacts.

 _(Kithara : I never wanted to admit it, master, but the pathfinder's team is just too valuable to let die. Perhaps their most prized purpose is to draw all the attention away. With many people seeing their next moves, and even more imagining them to bring miracles, I can say for sure that people will be too entertained with Ryder's adventures to notice that we are moving in the shadows.)_

Believe me when I say that I truly miss them... all of them with Pelessaria out of the picture.

I've counted it; out of six ground teammates of the pathfinder's crew, only Peebee gave a less-than-warm greeting. Nakmor Drack and Jaal Ama Darav saw fit to simply give me gestures of acknowledgement.

 _(Kithara : Negal conveyed that, when you took him to the bridge to see Dr. Anwar, his sensors found the attendance of another Remnant-based robot, most likely an Observer type. He claimed that the presence could be detected from inside the Escape Pod Hatch, where Pelessaria resides. Could it be what incited her annoyance? Her having one small bot versus you having three dining table-sized bots?)_

Heh... heheheheheheh...

 _(Kithara : What's the funny thing here?)_

I can't believe Scott really did allow me to bring one case of my personal utensils, another case full of electronic devices, and three large drones aboard the ship. You DID see her expression when she saw how big you, Negal and Adana are.

 _(Kithara : I imagined she almost wanted to flip a table. Well, then again, you are quite a resourceful entity.)_

For which I thank you for your unrelenting support.

Anyway, why don't we just forget that topic? As I stand here in the meeting room with nobody to talk with but Kithara, I am preparing blueprints for a Remnant gauntlet and a Remnant assault rifle called the 'P.A.W.' by lieutenant Harper. She was interested in designing these weapon schemes that we extracted from the Kadara vault. Remember, previously we only had models for the Shadow sniper rifle taken from the vault on Elaaden. With two more energy-based armaments ready to be produced, we might no longer need to duplicate the vintage heat sink mod for every type of guns out there.

One more thing to remember, we obtained a blueprint to construct a Remnant-based armor set from Elaaden too. From what I've learnt through Liam and Vetra's accounts, they have yet to create the 'Remnant Heritage Armor' despite the already existing model to construct it from. What I'm doing tonight is crafting an armor set that combines both the Remnant Heritage's aspects and an armor set model taken from the Parnatia, a species that used to coexist with the Inu'sannon, before the Protheans came around.

As a reminder, I have an N7 armor set which I once complained about, my broad sword, the Shadow rifle, and my Sidewinder handcannon. Once I have access to build what we're studying now, my apparatuses will include this Remnant-Parnatia armor set, the P.A.W. rifle, the Shadow rifle, Remnant battle gauntlet, and the Inu'sannon broad sword.

 _(Kithara : So you are bringing four weapons to the Moshae's rescue? Won't that make you look ridiculous?)_

I'll make sure that each weapons are lightweight and retractable, which means they can be fitted in small spaces when they aren't used. We have to try combining the Remnant polymer, Vanadium and graphite minerals with something better. Besides, Drack carries with him plenty of daggers into fights, and Vetra Nyx never leaves her trustworthy pocket knife.

I believe that's all there is to talk. We probably should bring the camera to Voeld, but first, you make sure it has enough power reserve to record all the craziness that we will endure, Kithara. I know the 'others' will be happy to have something worth remembering.

 _(SAM : Natalie, the time is now 22:45, do you wish to have somewhere to sleep in?)_

I believe I'll manage by sleeping in the galley, SAM. Thanks for the advice.

 _(SAM : You're welcome, Natalie. Another question if I may; who is the one you were talking to for the previous one hour?)_

Oh, and Kithara? Tell the' others' to keep erasing SAM's memories of our conversations and made him new memories without us in the picture. End of recording.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter 21 : Show Time**

This is Natalie Homer, the pathfinder's sniper recording from Voeld's Resistance base. If any of you, my 'children', found this recording before I return to Kadara myself then it means I'm already dead. Should we find the odds to be against us, Negal will be sent back to take over the family and continue whatever plans necessary to safeguard your rise to power in the Andromeda galaxy. If I don't come back, do not attempt rescue. I repeat, DO NOT attempt any rescue mission no matter what.

 **xxxx**

 **(The camera is currently recording from Natalie's eyes to create a first-person perspective. She is presently occupying a small room, donning her armor and putting her weapons on the appropriate slots. A knocking can be heard outside of the room.)**

(Scott : Nat, are you ready? We're leaving in 5 minutes.)

Right away, pathfinder. How many others are we bringing to the rescue mission?

(Scott : Jaal and Vetra are coming along. I've put Cora as our strategy analyst on the base, gave her the task of studying whatever information that we gathered with SAM. Our angara contacts on the base should be able to assist whenever needed.)

I honestly feel unsafe to openly waltz into the enemy base. Have you prepared for worst-case scenarios? I can only imagine what will happen if you are lost to the Kett. I don't think Cora is ready to be your second-in-line yet. Huh.

(Scott : We'll make it through, I promise. And please don't sigh like that; you're making everyone edgy,)

Understood, pathfinder.

 **(The camera reveals the Resistance's hangar bay as Natalie walks out with Scott, Jaal and Vetra. She looks behind to see Vetra sliding her assault rifle behind her back, and Jaal putting his helmet on. Natalie turns her attention back to Scott, who is talking to an angara pilot. After a brief exchange, all four proceed to board one of the shuttles and takes off, with other shuttles following soon after.)**

So, what kind of defenses are we going to bypass?

(Shuttle pilot : The Kett had erected an energy barrier encompassing the entire structure, there is no other way in. The Kett soldiers stationed inside are abundant and highly dangerous as they have access to an array of weaponry. Wraiths and Fiends are also reported to patrol the perimeters.)

(Scott : Can we use SAM to overload the barrier?)

 _(SAM : It is possible. By locating a control panel around each energy barriers, I can disrupt the system and provide a small entry point, if only for a brief time.)_

(Scott : Thanks, SAM.)

And now for the next topic; does the Resistance know anything about the happenings within the base's walls? Does the Resistance successfully mapped out some of the interior or the like?

(Jaal : None knows what the Kett have been doing in there, and no chart has ever been created. All we know is that the Kett took their captured victims into the base... None were seen afterwards.)

 _(Kithara:_ _ **(private channel)**_ _It must be the exaltation process. Said captives could've been experimented here before infected with the serum.)_

Yeah... that is indeed the mystery we're about to solve.

(Jaal : Do you wish to suggest something?)

Nothing very important, Jaal. I've heard stories about Kett doing experimentations on their prisoners. If there's something secretive under their sleeves, this place might be where they keep it. Don't let your guard down, however. Pilot, how close are we to our destination by now?

(Shuttle pilot : We are due on last stop in T-minus 6 minutes. Prepare your team, I'll signal the others.)

 **(The camera shows Natalie's gaze being pointed to the scenery outside the shuttle's window. From her eyes' periphery vision, however, Jaal can be seen giving Natalie a look of concern. It is likely that the angara detected the unusual lack of discomfort from her being.)**

 **xxxx**

 **(Natalie's camera reveals the rocky pathway leading to the Kett base in front of her. Scott Ryder stepped out of the shuttle first, followed accordingly by Vetra, Jaal, and Natalie. Other shuttles can be seen arriving as Natalie turns her head to see them, with angaran soldiers and some Initiative personnel approaching the pathfinder to discuss their tactics moments after landing.)**

It seems that, based on their conversation, ten people will arrange for a distraction to let our team proceed deeper into the base. Our priority will therefore be the Moshae's safety. So to summarize it, we are to get in, find the Moshae before she's exalted, and get out by heading to the hangar bay and hold out until reinforcements arrive. If there are prisoners still alive, save them as well unless said prisoners are dead or exalted.

 _(Kithara:_ _ **(private channel)**_ _Do you think the Kett will welcome another set of distraction?)_

What do you wish to suggest?

 _(Kithara:_ _ **(private channel)**_ _We don't actually have to leave the pathfinder's team, but we shall stay a good distance away from him to allow Adana and Negal to tap into the base's comms system to find out who the base responds to, and how many we can investigate about.)_

 _(Negal :_ _ **(private channel)**_ _Are we going to bring back a good number of Kett as well?)_

 _(Kithara :_ _ **(private channel)**_ _No, that'll instigate unwanted attention. What we must do now, is to collect intel from the base's information network. As I said, we must know who the enemy that we are going to defeat, with or without Ryder's permission.)_

If your suggestion can be done without causing too much losses or suspicion, then I will find the three of you some precious opportunities to hack their network. Don't screw this up, you hear me?

(Scott : Alright, let's move, everyone! Moshae Sjefa's safety is our top objective, and make sure all of you are not separated! Natalie, are you ready to breach the base?)

Yes, pathfinder! I'll just have my drones monitor the sensitive spots as we go deeper. Hopefully we won't be shot from behind.

 **xxxx**

 **(Natalie's camera recorded everything. It shows the pathfinder's team infiltrating the base using ventilated ducts to take out a Kett squad patrolling what appears to be a storage room. It is from there when the distraction teams take their respective roles and move to their designated spots in preparation for an all-out battle.)**

 **(Further down the hall, the team witnessed, from a curve-windowed deck overlooking an open area below, a group of angara being given a ritualistic ceremony by a platoon of Kett, with an older Kett referred to as the Cardinal overseeing the whole process. It is when the distraction teams managed to rig bombs to explode in different areas, scaring the Cardinal and prompting her to evacuate the Moshae, as per the Archon's order via holographic interface. As Ryder and Jaal pondered over how the captive angaras behaved so obediently, Natalie lets the word 'indoctrinated' slip through her mouth, inciting a tense response from the confused Jaal.)**

 **(Moving on from that point, the team comes across a decontamination room. From the data mined by the drones, Natalie constructs a hypothesis that the Kett could be trying to keep their prisoners as clean and fresh as possible before exaltation. The camera noted their silence until the team found a room with a dozen stasis pods.)**

(Scott : What are we seeing here?)

 _(SAM : It appears to be where the Kett store inmates until the time is right for them to be removed elsewhere. We should scan the pods for clues.)_

On that I have to agree. Scanning now... Nothing here... nothing there... this one is empty as well...

(Scott : These two are empty too... Weird, looks like all of the pods in this room are vacant save for the few which have signs of being used recently.)

(Vetra : Do you think the Moshae was here and taken away at some point?)

 _(SAM : Perhaps the console in this room contains a useful log. You might want to examine it.)_

 _(Adana :_ _ **(private channel)**_ _Maybe the Cardinal had gotten to her first.)_

I wouldn't suspect her to get here earlier than us.

...

(Scott : Got it. The Moshae is scheduled for transport to the Archon's flagship, but it doesn't detailed where the flagship is or what the Archon wants to do with her, unless it's something urgent.)

(Jaal : Look above, there's some kind of railing that keeps sending pods out of this room.)

 _(SAM : We should try following the rail, see where it leads us to.)_

 **(And so they follow the railing, only to once again enter a decontamination room. But it is not until they saw what happens beyond the window that they're driven into frenzy; Jaal banging the window while SAM and the three Reaper drones hastily hacked the room's systems. An angara, released from his pod while floating, is subjected to the infamous exaltation. A Kett Destined, also floating mid-air, injected two syringes containing unknown liquid into the angara. As the decontamination room finally opens into the adjacent hall, the pathfinder's team members all watched in horror as the angara thrashed on the floor for some time before rising up, fully transfigured as a Kett Chosen. The members, Jaal in particular, decimate their enemies in a hysterical manner that even Natalie, from her camera's first-person view, could be heard 'breathing' in a slowly towering wrath. She punches a console at her right side, with the camera / her eyes staring at nothing for minutes, broken only when she turned to see Jaal lamenting the truth of what the Kett truly are.)**

(Jaal : **(sobbing quietly)** They... are us. The Kett... are us, transformed... into these vile, disgusting aliens...)

(Scott : **(speaking quietly)** Jaal... I'm very sorry.)

(Jaal : I'm sorry too. How long have we fought these beasts... and not knowing how they came into existence? How many Kett have we brought down with our guns, not knowing whether any of them were our family members? I'm... I'm sorry... I didn't fight hard enough.)

None of us know the Kett would be this... infectious. This is exaltation, really? No, this is a plague outbreak, and there is nobody to blame but the Kett. Jaal Ama Darav, it is your job to make sure no more of your kin are infected by the wretched aliens, and you will save your Moshae Sjefa. Make her proud.

(Jaal : **(breathing heavily)** Yes. You're right... You are right; the Kett will not harm the Moshae, not as long as I am still breathing!)

 _(Adana :_ _ **(private channel)**_ _Believe it or not , Kithara, I've never seen the master fighting in her wrathful state.)_

 **(As the team continues their trek, a Kett could be heard barking orders in anxious tone. Kithara, through the use of Natalie's private channel, identifies the speaker as the Cardinal. True enough, as they approach a larger room, the camera's view captured the intense moments when the pathfinder's team spotted the Cardinal fleeing the room with Moshae Sjefa in tow. The team pursues her all the way to the base's hangar, where the Cardinal engages the team in desperation. She can be heard shouting commands to every Kett soldiers she could find, demanding the Moshae be kept away from Ryder. Natalie, seeing that Ryder and the two others are too preoccupied with the Cardinal's mooks, decides to take matters into her own hands and fights the Cardinal herself, while her drones defend her with compulsory cover fire. The Cardinal with her stasis energy orb and teleportation versus the human-looking synthetic entity with her broad sword and unmatched reflexes, the battle looks as if a witch and a huntress are fighting a gruesome duel in a fantasy story.)**

 **xxxx**

(Scott : Pathfinder to Resistance, we have secured Moshae Sjefa, I repeat, we have secured the Moshae and ready for evac.)

Good, let's get out of here.

(Cardinal : **(teleporting in front of Ryder)** No! You will not take her! She belongs to the great Archon!

(Vetra : **(points her gun)** Step any closer, and your head is gone!)

Believe me when I say that YOU are the most diseased lifeform I've ever discovered in my life, Kett. I'd be happy to destroy your pathetic body down to its molecules, but first entertain me. Why does your kind love exaltation so much?

(Cardinal : It is our foundation of life! I was once wretched and insignificant like you. It is exaltation that elevates us, that proves our worth in the universe! You must understand this gift!)

(Jaal : No. What WE understand is that your 'gift' destroys us, turning us into beasts! )

I agree. Let's bring this whole place to the ground, make sure it is a smoking crater by the time we depart. We don't want any more Kett running around spreading their plague.

(Jaal : Wait, my people must be rescued first. There are families desperately hoping for their return.)

(Vetra : We can't risk the Kett to repopulate the whole place again. I'm with Natalie this time; we must annihilate this place.)

(Moshae Sjefa : And you shall have my support too.)

(Scott : What do you think, SAM?)

(Cardinal : Wait, please don't ruin this temple! It is a sacred place to my people, a symbol of our unity and faith! I beg you, pathfinder. I... I shall offer you the chance to release all of the angara, but please leave this place intact!)

 _(SAM : Scott, I am afraid we don't have much time to do both. Kett reinforcements are due to arrive soon. You must decide what to do with the base.)_

 **(For 3-4 minutes, the team is split into two differing sides, bickering for the best outcome; Jaal and Scott wishes to have the Resistance release as many captives as they could, while Natalie, backed by Vetra and the Moshae, demands the base be reduced to dust. Eventually, knowing that Ryder must win the Resistance's approval to secure an alliance between the Initiative and the angaran government, he opted to leave the base standing, giving the Resistance ample time to save hundreds of their captured relatives. The Cardinal, mistaking Ryder's choice as a gesture of compassion, thanked him before Natalie shot her to death.)**

 **(The ride out from the base is wild and borderline perilous. The Kett troops, realizing that their base's administrator is dead and their system network was hacked by the infiltrators (the three drones to be exact), released their Fiends and Wraiths to stop the pathfinder and his allies from leaving the place. The battle raged on for 3 minutes until their shuttle from earlier finally shows up and ready to evacuate the Moshae and them out of the cursed place forever.)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 22 : It is Never Done**

Turn on the camera.

...Once again, I'm having difficulty to convey my mind, especially after what happened nine hours ago. We are back here again, on the Tempest's meeting room at night and I don't feel good to have a dialogue.

You three, you may chat about our big adventure on Voeld without me. If there's nothing you want to talk, just leave the camera running until I get back.

...

 _(Kithara : Once again, the master has left us alone with the camera. Thankfully, our mobile platforms are allowed to be stored here, as security mechs she said. That way, we have a direct access to information by tapping into the ship's holo interface.)_

 _(Adana : So, what do you wish to confer, companion?)_

 _(Kithara : Nothing in particular, except for some tidbits of info that we have on the Kett, and how their society behaves.)_

 _(Negal : Let's start with the Kett's homeworld.)_

 _(Kithara : Truthfully? I don't think the disease-spreading bone-aliens have a homeworld, not anymore as they have embraced their planet raider status. They did, however, originated from a planet beyond the Heleus Cluster. This planet, Sarhesen, is believed to be lost to a world war scenario or something similar in scale. No matter what happened, they were a doomed species by the time said calamity was done. Whatever left of their kin had chosen to embrace exaltation as their new way of life, and nothing changes that for millennia.)_

 _(Adana : And what about of their leadership? I noticed that, in the base's files we extracted, the Cardinal talked about how the Archon and his second-in-command being unable to see eye to eye on a number of things.)_

 _(Negal : This second-in-command is either the Invictor on Eos, or someone else entirely different, a Kett who goes by the name 'Primus'.)_

 _(Adana : This Primus, where is it now, working in the shadows or doing something with no approval from the Archon? This information is worth noting down.)_

 _(Kithara : Unknown. All that we have on her is that the Primus was incredulous with the Archon's management of their Heleus army. The Archon disabled any communication to and from their people outside Heleus Cluster, and is apparently squandering the Kett's resources trying to study the Remnant. The Primus is displeased with these conditions, but she's unable to openly disobey the Archon... At least, that's what the Cardinal thought.)_

 _(Adana : Did you identified the Primus using 'her'?)_

 _(Kithara : The Cardinal's journals are using that pronoun, if the translation software is correct.)_

 _(Adana : Ah, I've remembered something. Do you recall our interrogation on that captive Kett on Eos? That Kett revealed the Archon is eager to get his hands on the Remnant tech. It also said the Archon questioned several angara inmates about Remnant tech. Moshae Sjefa is said to be the angara's top expert when it comes to studying the Remnant. Do you think it is the Archon's main reason to keep her alive? To extract Remnant-related knowledge from her body, whatever the cost?)_

 _(Kithara : The Primus, according to the journals, became very upset when she found that all the resources she could've used to hunt us down were diverted to satisfy the Archon's unrestrained obsession.)_

 _(Adana : The question is...)_

 _(Negal : Can we find her before the Archon does? More importantly; can we offer her a contract she can't back away from?)_

The Primus is not the one we can straightforwardly talk to.

 _(Kithara : Ah, welcome back, master. You've overheard our conversation.)_

True. I've analyzed all information that we have on this Primus Kett, and I believe we share the same notion; Primus is planning to betray her leader, but she wanted to have all of her chess pieces set where they should be. If that's the case, then let's give her a piece she can play with. Be careful though, I want her to play her intended parts if we are going to strike a deal with her. Turn her into another 'Illusive Man' if you think you can foresee and plan consequently to generate a advantageous outcome for our side. Oh, and be prepared for secondary plans too; a traitor like the Primus must be having contingency plans up her sleeves, and we can't let her outsmart us.

 _(Negal : Chiefly because the Primus still holds a significant amount of power in her hands, yes?)_

Correct. The data mentions the presence of other archons within the Kett's regime, as well as prefects and elders that seems to oversee everything an archon does.

Contact our family members and ask them if securing and alliance with a treacherous Kett is beneficial or not. If their answer is yes, then we must bring her under our wings, lest she manages to send word to her superiors wherever they are.

In the meantime, I think you'll be pleased to know that Moshae Sjefa is in stable condition. Evfra had organized his medic team to give any required treatment to her when the need arises, and Paaran Shie will gather a group of people to welcome the Moshae back on Aya.

 _(Negal : That means we are staying on the Tempest until we can secure a transport back to Kadara.)_

 _(Kithara : We might be able to use said leisure time to study Aya and note down any notable information while we have the chance.)_

I agree. Well, if the time is right, we are due on arrival in two hours or less. For now, we should put the remaining topics on shelf until the time is appropriate to converse again. Kithara, send a message to our family, tell them that we are having a vacation on Aya. Until then, logging off.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 23 : No Rest for the Wicked**

It is time to start narrating again.

I am going to specify what I've experienced in the past five days, in cautious detail.

On Aya, the Moshae was welcomed back with cheers and applauses. Not only were the angara people of Aya greeted her with overflowing enthusiasm, they also celebrated Ryder for being the Moshae's savior. I was able to keep my emotion as neutral as possible, but I can't help but notice that Ryder was actually enjoying their thankfulness, almost losing himself to the cascade of gratitude. He should've known better, you see. His job wasn't over yet; the Initiative's victory over the Archon's forces is simply the beginning of a war that is to come.

While Ryder and governor Shie took their leave to discuss the plans of exchanging envoys and ambassadors to and from the Nexus, his crewmates had the opportunity to socialize with the angaran society. Not a nice thing to remember when you discovered the old, grumpy krogan drowned himself in angaran alcohol and Liam being unable to use polite introduction in Shelesh.

In the following day, Moshae Sjefa gave a special permission for me and Ryder to visit the Aya Remnant vault, where she had been spending so many years studying the Remnant's creations, including a place or object she referred to as 'Meridian'.

Little Scotty was apparently still feeling ecstatic from the day before. He suggested that we should be looking for Meridian straight away, under the impression that the Archon will get there if we don't. The Moshae then elaborated a few more clues; the Archon's personal flagship is where he supposedly kept Meridian-related Remnant artifact. I'm not going to spill more details on this particular situation, but something feels jarring; If the Remnant makers decided to put information, _any_ information about Meridian into their vault, why make it easily accessible to anyone that isn't them?

An optimist would say that the makers might want to lead a sapient species to use this Meridian for good intentions...

 _(Kithara : But on the pessimistic side, it could be that the makers were never gone in the first place, and were placing Meridian's intel there in case they wish to return someday.)_

Nobody likes it when their invention is being used without permission. If Meridian is akin to a home for them, nobody likes it when their house is occupied by unknown people, either.

Ryder relayed what we've learnt from the Moshae to the crewmates during dinner time on the Tempest. To keep my... absence from arousing questions, I told anybody willing to listen that I'm going to eat while studying in the crew quarters room, taking a tiny bowl of porridge-like food without eating it; I don't need to eat, seriously.

 _(Negal : Well, not without leaving a bug to keep an ear on whatever Ryder had to say.)_

 _(Kithara : Clever move, master.)_

Thanks, but I hoped I didn't have to. Ryder's account was very frequently cut off by Cora's counter-arguments, Vetra's near-constant questioning, and the raccoon asari's incessant babbling about Remnant theories... or should I say conspiracy theories. That damned immature organic creature knows absolutely NOTHING about xeno-archeology. I was so displeased with their chaotic conversation that I decided to just took the bug back after dinner time and cracked it.

 _(Adana : You are angry to see them acting like children.)_

Chiefly because they acted as if no major consequences would come from playing with a toy so dangerous. Alec _I'm-not-afraid-of-anything_ Ryder lost his life after tampering with Remnant vault on Habitat 7, and now his son is about to do something similarly perilous.

 _(Sharcov : Cora Harper seemed to be taking the role of the pathfinder's voice of morality, although I can bet you everything in the universe that even she was not truly confident in her own thoughts. Sure, the other arks are still missing and they haven't secured an outpost on Kadara just yet, but when a chance of exciting adventure presents itself, logic tends to fall in favor of instinct.)_

Your description, while true in hindsight, won't stop them from tracking down Meridian either way.

On the third day, I decided I've had enough of being the pathfinder's assistant. So, when the others weren't looking, I slipped a note saying that I'll head back to Kadara that day. I took all of my belongings and the three drones which I brought to Voeld with me, and boarded a shuttle to Kadara.

Don't ask why I didn't indoctrinate the angara pilot; I just didn't. Arriving on Kadara, I simply paid him with the money we salvaged from Kadaran pirates and went along with all we've planned before I left.

What I did not expect to find was that the ascended did their job a lot better than I thought. Though the combination of skillful mineral mining, material processing, and brainwashing technique, we now have forty two Kett soldiers along with four shuttles from them, thirty pirates of varying species with four shuttles as well, plus thirty eight ascended already controlling their respective modified Remnant drones. Out of seventy that I carried along the journey, only thirty two left to train, then we can start building a medium-size army.

 _(Kithara : Also a valuable situation to our cause, we are now almost integrated with the Nexus' network. By this time, we should no longer dependent on SAM to operate. Once my brethren and I are 100% unified into the Nexus, the station's network will be ours to manipulate and supervise.)_

 _(Rhanaia : Of course, we are not going to overtake the Nexus, not openly. We'll simply conform ourselves as the station's groundskeeper, weeding out unwanted information or illegal tampering.)_

So let me get this straight. If you all control the Nexus in its entirety, that means you can alter whatever Jarun Tann says on his intercom, is that correct?

 _(Adana : Please, master, you know how much we have developed in the last few weeks.)_

Good job, by the way.

Huh. I came home to our base here, on Kadara, and I was sure that we were low on resources at the first time we arrived here. I kept thinking that...

 _(Nemeth : We didn't really low on materials, master. After some of these pirates were brought under our mercy, the trip to the planet's vault became somewhat stress-free. Another thing we forget to mention is that another vault was discovered a little far to the west. Not exactly a vault per se; just an underground storage area which uses the same gravity well like the one on Havarl.)_

 _(Sharcov : This one was visibly hidden, so it took some time to access it. This basement storage had less Remnant bots guarding it, but similarly contained less compounds to experiment on, which is no longer the case.)_

And here I thought Kadaran outlaws won't be attracted to the vaults or anything Remnant-related.

 _(Adana : Good thing too, for we are now developing implants for our slaves to use. Using these implants, we no longer have to stay close to the slaves; merely projecting infrasound into their implants would be enough. Think of it as a solution for long-distance indoctrination, since we currently have no means to mass-produce husks.)_

Oh, we will have it, soon enough. Once these implant of your design works on all the slaves, we'll head back to Eos and bring down our target. By combining both Milky Way tech, Kett inventions and Remnant tech, we may be able to gain enough footholds in Andromeda in less than a decade. As a side note, we should probably do research into renewable energy sources, using Mass Effect technology as the groundwork of its advancement.

Let's end the session for now. We have work to do.


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 24 : Insult to Perfection**

This is Natalie Homer, recording from our former base on Site 1: Promise, Eos. Once again, if any of you, my 'children', found this recording before I officially declare victory after the Invictor's defeat, then it means I'm already dead or captured.

As Kithara agreed to not join the siege attempt, he will be in charge of everything until I can confirm my survival. Should we find the odds to be against us, Adana will be sent back to coordinate the family with Kithara and continue whatever you need to live on in the Andromeda galaxy. If the mission ends in failure, do not attempt rescue. I repeat, DO NOT attempt any rescue mission no matter what.

...

Hold on. I better explain why we are in such a rush to go on with the mission. Long story short, by the time we arrive back on Eos after six days of FTL travel, Prodromos was alerted that Kett convoys were seen converging on Site 1. We had to wait for three to four days; hiding to be exact, up until Bradley's traversing scouts went back to the outpost.

We knew they are about to come back, this time they'll be scouring Site 1 for real. We have to conserve our manpower and assets; we can't risk squandering them on Bradley's men. Let him find his own challenges, Adana said.

As a result, we had no choice but to burn down our base at Site 1 to prevent Bradley from figuring out anything. Now I'm recording from a shuttle heading to the Kett base on Sheartop Mountain; we'll drop Kithara and two other drones to hide somewhere. I know that we'll never go back there eventually.

Logging off.

 **xxxx**

 **(The camera films everything as Natalie proceeds with her plans in motion. It started with one Kett shuttle arriving on the base's entrance; its passengers were already outfitted with Reaper indoctrination implants. These Kett were interrogated by the entrance's guard, to which they answered with responses dictated beforehand by Daval. After all is confirmed good, the passengers walk along with the guards all the way up to the security gate, only to massacre the guards once Druzzo, Nemeth, and Sharcov overtake their nerve systems. The remaining shuttles arrive shortly as the first batch of Kett stand motionless.)**

Good job on the direct intervention, you three. Now, we move to the second phase; disable the barrier protecting the base.

 _(Danaur : Allow me to take five slaves to secure the east security console.)_

 _(Rhanaia : Sharcov and I will provide you with additional firepower.)_

 _(Adana : Very well. Damostl, Lyrio, Wyren, all of you accompany me to hack the other console, also bring five slaves. The rest of you, get the remaining slaves to distract the Invictor's forces.)_

 _(Lyrio : Understood.)_

Oh, wow, I didn't think you'd be able to assume command as good as Kithara. Then again, I have to compliment you on that. Move out, everyone!

 **(At Natalie's mark, the group is split into three sides, two for deactivating the barrier's generator, and the last one serves to clear out the Kett's resistance. The indoctrinated pirates are mostly sent forward to bring down the Behemoths and Destineds, leaving the turrets intact so the rest of the Reapers can hack them. After ten minutes of heated struggle, the base's defenses are either down or operated against the Kett. Half of the pirates are dead, while the brainwashed Kett are mostly unharmed.)**

 **(Once all is done, Natalie gathers her Reapers and the remaining indoctrinated slaves to plow through the legions of Kett Chosens, Wraiths, and the newly-arriving reinforcements. Shuttles are blown, Kett are butchered, and gas tanks are collected before being blown up to breach into sensitive areas, at least those are what Natalie's camera sees, anyway.)**

(invictor : INSULT! OUR PERFECTION CANNOT BE DEFEATED! KILL THEM, KILL THEM ALL!)

Yeah, yeah, I didn't know the Kett are obsessed with perfection. Your technology is still profoundly reliant on standard plasma power and gas tanks, it seems. One does not call itself perfect unless said being can seek out new energy sources.

 _(Adana : Are you insinuating that plasma power source is primitive?)_

In a sense, yes. Plasma is no different from Helium-3 or nuclear, while Element Zero is an energy source unlike any other. As far as I can observe here, there is no technology of theirs that utilizes anything other than plasma, so you can pretty much call the Kett as primitive planet looters.

 _(Negal : Kett troops annihilated, let's move to the next phase.)_

 **xxxx**

 **(The next part involves finding a way to shut down the alarm system, and with it, the security mechanics which will allow them access into the Invictor's chamber. Turning off the alarms is the easy part; by accessing the base's network, the Reaper drones are able to disable them all at once. Opening the locking mechanism is the hard part. From thirty five drones participating in the assault, Natalie delegated ten to hack the base, lowering their defenses which were diminished when the last surviving pirate slaves were shot down by the shuttles. The indoctrinated Kett, by this point are no more than twenty individuals or so, are stationed around the inner base circle to shoot down any approaching enemy reinforcement.)**

(Invictor : What madness! Don't just stand there! Annihilate the unworthy aliens! Call support if you have to!)

 **(The target apparently resides in an underground chamber with windows overlooking the canyon below the mountain. From the camera's perspective, Natalie's ordeal seems to increase by twofold; the surviving Destineds and Behemoths were assembled in a two-story hall, where the Invictor, using the same energy orb like the one the Cardinal used on Voeld, arranged for the grand finale.)**

(Invictor : You are all worthless creatures! Our genetic perfection shall triumph over your crudeness!)

I guess you don't have a mirror to look at yourself, huh?

 **(The ensuing battle is brutal and wild. The two-way ambush Natalie planned ended up being the death of her remaining Kett slaves, but it does provide an opening for the thirty five drones to launch retaliation on the last of the Invictor's soldiers. As for the Invictor himself, the drones devise a strategy; hurl big objects to the Invictor whenever the old Kett isn't teleporting so their master can use her sword to break the Kett's energy orb and attack him. By carefully repeating this tactic three times, Natalie had her pleasure on ruthlessly mutilating the Kett and has her 'children' preserve his corpse as a future experimenting material. His death alerted more Kett, however, so Natalie had the entire Reaper drones tap into the base's network once again. This time, the speakers all over the base produce a low but persistent infrasonic sound wave that'll plague the incoming Kett.)**

 **(It is a tense moment, for none of the Reapers are standing by the chamber's entry door and Natalie casually sitting behind the Invictor's desk. By the time the Kett soldiers finally enter the room, they are letting out heavy breathing as if they're sick or tired, and their eyes bleary and glazed.)**

 **...**

Well, look who's finally here. Good day soldiers, are you ready to take new orders from your new administrator? Don't worry; I won't spread death threats on you yet.

(Kett troops : **(with emotionless voice)** ...Yes, master. We are yours to use as you please.)

Excellent, now if you don't mind, hand over reports on how many troops available on the base right now, how many resources do you have here, and what kind of information is available on this base. We are going to have work soon.

(Kett troops : Affirmative, master.)

Very good, now go. Adana, please call Kithara and the other two drones to go and set up their stuff here, as for you Daval, check the system and make sure there are no cyber viruses that could disrupt our future operations. From this day onward, the Eos Kett base is ours to inhabit. It is here where we'll build our strength, and where all of you, my 'children', will finally construct a bigger version of yourselves, preferably as large as Commander Shepard's first ship until we can secure enough materials to develop larger platforms.

Ah, please make a reminder to outfit all indoctrinated Kett with the implants you 'children' invented on Kadara. We're going to have some serious jobs to do for weeks, and I'll have all of you present for the job.

 **(And as the day goes by, as the sun finally sets, the camera records the bustling activities around the master's new operations center from Natalie's first person view. From a monitor screen on the master's table, freshly indoctrinated Kett forces are seen collecting dead bodies of their own around the premises, no doubt for Natalie to dissect as she desires. With the base under her thumb, it is possible that she will have no problem invading Prodromos, unless she decides otherwise.)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 25 : Off Duty Chat**

Rise and shine, my dear Kithara, rise and shine.

 _(Kithara : Oh please, my dear master. I hardly rest if ever. I'm the family's manager, remember?)_

And for that, I truly am proud of you. Your strength of character in battle and your vigilant management of your brethren, those are what I congratulate you for, to be exact. It is because of you that we are in complete control over the Eos' Kett command center. Every time a squadron of offsite Kett enters this place to investigate, they would be exposed and fall into indoctrination, bolstering our manpower.

However, I do have some updates to keep count of, that's why I'm turning the camera on. This morning, some twelve to fifteen minutes before sunrise, I received news from our pathfinder. From what we've gathered, Ryder was kind of alarmed that we vanished without his consent... well, that was his reaction before he found that note I left on the Tempest. Still, Ryder was unhappy to know that we didn't share his enthusiasm on the Meridian Quest thing. As far as I know, it was Ryder who fervently craved to hunt for the thing. But to the pathfinder, it was me who supplied him with all the information I had translated from the Aya vault, so naturally he thought I shared the same interest.

The second update is that he's now heading for Kadara, planning to set up a suitable place for a new outpost, no doubt. Once it's done, he'll pursue leads on the missing Initiative arks.

 _(Kithara : Ah, but remember, there has yet to be any genuine proof that the Remnant builders were intentionally leaving Meridian's information in the vault. Who said that the Remnant were good-hearted aliens? No one, I bet.)_

What do you suggest?

 _(Kithara : The Prothean archives on Sol system were not rightly planted there by the Protheans themselves; the four-eyes bloodlust aliens were simply looking for young sapient species to uplift, then have those young ones enslaved or boiled or fried. They just happened to find the Sol system already having a garden planet, with a primitive version of humans included.)_

 _(Sharcov : The only proven instance where Protheans were really generous, or so it seems, was when they bestowed biotic powers to the ancient asari by the use of genetic engineering, added with a special beacon purposely left behind on Thessia.)_

 _(Kithara : Hmm? You're eavesdropping on our little chat?)_

 _(Sharcov : It can't be called a little chat, especially if it includes a thoughtful topic like the Remnant tech. Unlike the asari's case, the angara aren't particularly sure if the Remnant creators did left their constructions for them to use, or simply leaving them here unattended to retake later. Despite the apparent straightforwardness in operating the mass relays and Mass Effect tech in general, there was no proof that the Protheans were leaving them for the ones who'll come later. Of course, we could relate it with our 'leave-no-evidence-behind' policy. The Remnant here left no beacons, no alphabetical translators for their tongue, no digital archives or written literature, and most importantly, no dead bodies to preserve or bury. Is it possible that Andromeda has its own version of us?)_

That does explain several plot holes, but here's another thing worth debating; If the builders were gone because of being invaded, then why are their structures still standing? There are no signs of a huge warfare or anything, and no signs of orbital bombardment like your older comrades did to planets like Joab, Etamis, and Aphras back in the Milky Way. The Scourge doesn't seem to do anything other than ruining Remnant tech and churning planets, not enough to actively triggering species-wide extinction. Well... that's as far as we can find out for the time being.

Remember, we have that one procedure; leave no evidence behind. Surely if the builders went extinct because of invasion, they won't just let the lingering buildings stand unscathed.

 _(Kithara : So many if and but questions. How about the Meridian? What do you think of it?)_

Moshae Sjefa said Meridian functions as the central hub of the vaults' network. By translating Remnant glyphs in the Aya vault, I noted that Meridian is a kind of a command center, but inactive for the moment. Think of it like a switched-off Citadel.

We don't know what the Meridian looks like. Even the Archon spent his time feverishly researching what Meridian is, how it works, where it is now, that sort of thing. Torturing the Moshae didn't help his situation, as she was in the dark about Meridian as well. All that she knows is that Meridian was lost.

 _(Lyrio : Maybe this Meridian thing was hidden deliberately?)_

 _(Kithara : Another one listening? Just how many of you are keeping an ear to us right now?!)_

 _(Lyrio : Just me. My job is done until an hour later. I can do my spare time to do whatever I want.)_

 _(Sharcov : And you wish to contribute your piece of mind here? Sure, we need more perspective in our chat after all.)_

Getting back on the issue, I can already sense that something is not right. In our galaxy, each time we finished a harvest, the relays would usually be realigned to new positions, ensuring that whatever species found and utilize them, they'll always arrive on the Citadel. Essentially, the Citadel is a trap opened for everyone. Meridian is different; the vault did not say anything about Meridian, other than there is a thing named Meridian, but not its exact location. I'll bet everything that Meridian houses a weapon so dangerous it could destroy an entire galaxy, or an army so vicious which rivals the Reaper armada I used to have.

The Archon appears to be treating Meridian as a device to bring Andromeda galaxy under his might, while Ryder and whoever shares his mindset believe Meridian to be a treasure chest full of marvel. Kind of like the Pandora's Box from human mythology, if I'm not mistaken.

I believe I remember that the intention of the Andromeda Initiative is to create pioneering colonies, not to perform Indiana Jones escapades in real life.

 _(Sharcov : Why don't we search through the network here? Maybe there's an entry which says 'Archon' and 'Meridian' in the same spot.)_

...Perhaps we can do it tomorrow. I think we should be getting a new shipment of minerals from our Kett scouts anytime soon. So, for the closing, I think we may or must talk about this subject once we find something new. Until then, I'm logging off.

 _(Lyrio : ...Indiana Jones escapades?)_

Oh, please just ignore that.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 26 : Progress**

This is session one, starting in 3... 2... 1...

Two weeks, one day, and five hours had passed after the last time I opened a recording period, and I must say that we are not in an advantageous situation, nor are we under any danger. Suffice for me to say, our progress is fairly flat; not increasing but not decreasing either.

 _(Kithara : This mostly stemmed from our constant rate of mineral and material shipments. Our increasingly complex projects, such as our mobile platform upgrade and genetic study on the Kett require more resources as time continues. Minerals such as Element Zero, iron, platinum, graphite, and uranium are in strict monitoring. We can't afford to waste the precious materials on non-compulsory assignments.)_

Tell that to the young ones. As time goes by, they became more and more eager to work on larger projects, slowly squandering our assets. Soon enough, we'll be having forty five ready-to-fly Ascended platforms the size of the Normandy SR-1, and we're running low on assets to keep retrofitting you all.

Not you, sorry, I was talking about the remaining thirty five platforms. Yours and nine others are already big enough to be called ships.

For some reasons, the likes of nickel and cadmium aren't used as much as the other minerals.

 _(Lyrio : My platform has yet to be retrofitted! When is my turn?)_

What did I tell you about wasting stuff?

 _(Negal : Aye, what has happened with 'I promise that we won't do anything selfish while the older members are being upgraded'? You know that we remember that.)_

 _(Kithara : Enough. What matters now is to gain more support and supplies, preferably as soon as the ten platforms are space-worthy and capable of performing space-mining. We have approximately two hundred sixty Kett soldiers under our influence, capable of gathering assets from various places, along with crucial intel on their infrastructure, network system, and personnel details, and seventy seven preserved Kett bodies to experiment on. Still, one that bugs me is that the Invictor did received instructions to excavate Remnant sites around Eos, yet he was also ordered to erase anything related to Meridian. How strange.)_

True, it's as if the Archon was desperate enough to keep his agenda from leaking. Not that it matters, as Adana and Zeromus reported to me two days ago, the Primus was heard preaching about her intention to overthrow the Archon.

 _(Negal : They said the alien was most likely using a loudspeaker to announce a pre-recorded message.)_

We should investigate into this state of affairs when the time is right.

 _(Kithara : Another thing, master. The pathfinder was testified to successfully recovering the turian's ark, Natanus, from the Remav system where Habitat 5 was meant to be. The planet exploded from the Scourge infestation, leaving the whole thing broken forever. The ark, damaged by the Scourge, continued to drive its way through the debris field, destroying all of its systems. According to Ryder and the new turian pathfinder, Avitus Rix, the Natanus was periodically ejecting life pods everywhere, including to Elaaden. It's a surprise that we didn't detect the pods at all.)_

 _(Negal : The Nexus stated that some 12,000 turians were successfully evacuated from the damaged ark within eight days, and another 3,000 will be rescued for the following three to four days. Natanus itself couldn't be salvaged at all.)_

So, the turians lost a significant amount of colonists and their new pathfinder is as clueless as little Scott himself.

 _(Qonari : What a saddening plot twist.)_

 _(Rhanaia : Their SAM seems to be unreliable to man an entire ship on its own. Perhaps it's because the Natanus SAM is merely a copy of the original Hyperion SAM?)_

No. The AIs on every ark were designed by Alec Ryder himself. Nobody was willing to tinker around the AI without its true designer assisting them directly. Our network here says the Paarchero is being detained by the Kett in a remote system; the ark is tethered into a Kett dreadnought in a gas giant's upper atmosphere. That leaves the asari ark Leusinia unmapped. I'd be happy to investigate that gas giant myself, but of course, at least seven of the ships must be ready before I leave.

End of recording.

 **xxxx**

Begin the session in 3, 2, 1...

It has been one month and a week since our last meeting, and I had been on high alert ever since last week.

 _(Adana : We are all still vigilant, to be truthful.)_

Yes, the reason for our recent set of circumstances was none other than a fleet of Kett patrols from Voeld of all places. Five ships manned by five hundred Kett troops landed on Eos after information blackout from this base; the base failed to maintain communication with Voeld after our victory, so the ones stationed on the still-frozen planet decided to send a small fleet to examine the mysterious state.

We had a last-minute plan to decimate half of the forces and have the remaining half added into our ranks. The plan worked, mostly.

We planned to capture the ships intact, but once our trap was exposed, Lyrio and many others automatically shot down three ships, leaving Sharcov and three others to disable the two ships up close to prevent them being lost. We lost some Kett from the battle, too, but claimed control over hundreds in place of the dead ones.

 _(Adana : And a good thing too. A month ago, we had two hundred sixty troops, then we lost one hundred and ten, then we managed to quickly indoctrinate the new ones using our infrasound trap, so there are three hundred and eighty by now. The dead ones are left to the wildlife.)_

 _(Nemeth : The downed ships were thankfully 70% intact, allowing us to repair them using the resources they had onboard. As of today, we have fourteen Ascended ready to perform flight-tests through space.)_

Do it, we can't afford to have Kett from anywhere to invade us, not while we're at our most vulnerable moment. Adana, leave and call Kithara immediately.

 _(Adana : Yes, master.)_

...

 _(Kithara : Master.)_

There you are. How are things with the research station?

 _(Kithara : The young ones had been busy as always. Development on new weaponry should be finished by tomorrow. The new Kett soldiers have all received the indoctrination implants. Give them a few more weeks and we'll have our new version of Dragon's Teeth.)_

Good. Anything else to report?

 _(Kithara : Another news on the pathfinder's success. Ryder is said to have liberated ark Leusinia from a group of Kett hunters called the Decimation. Its leader, the Valiant, reportedly hunted the Leusinia across multiple star systems, ruining the ark deck by deck, until Ryder spotted the ark floating after it ejected escape pods with survivors. The ark's acting pathfinder, Sarissa Theris was disgraced and forced to step down after Ryder found evidence of her abandoning the asari's official pathfinder, Matriarch Ishara to the invaders. With Theris' credibility as her pathfinder's second-in-command tarnished, the title was passed on to a young asari named Vederia. The ark made it to the Nexus, where it will undergo several repairs while the asari colonists are being woken up.)_

Another inexperienced and young pathfinder tasked to bear the burden as the last hope of the people. Now I realized that, even with all the money Jien Garson had before this trip turned into one giant disaster, the Andromeda Initiative is not so different than traditional scientific practices; throw science to the wall and see what sticks.

The asari pathfinder and her envoys did something wrong; negotiating with an enemy who refused to discuss surrender no matter what. Her bodyguard did another wrong move; forsaking friends in need of assistance.

Then, our little pathfinder decided to do something even more outrageous; handing over the pathfinder's job and title to a novice explorer, under the promise that everything will be better.

 _(Danaur : A very unwise move.)_

 _(Daval : Yes, what kind of leader would hand over a prestigious title to a beginner?)_

 _(Kithara : Perhaps Ryder saw it as this; he must either keep a veteran soldiers who betrayed her superior's trust or have a fresh but trustworthy soldier to bear the great responsibility. This is a military choice; you don't get to receive something without losing another thing in the process.)_

If so, then this is no more different than Avitus' case. I wonder what would happen to Paarchero... Hold on, it might be a reverse... if the Initiative's database is correct, then the salarians picked a young female salarian to be a pathfinder, with a former STG agent serving as her second-in-command. It's an inversion.

It might be sadder in hindsight, but I might advocate this older bodyguard, Hayjer, to be the salarian's pathfinder. He's older, smarter, and obviously seasoned. Heh, I might be mistaken after all; the Initiative is no longer my major priority, so no need to think too hard about it.

 _(Daval : Still, we could make out a fun conversation from these topics if we need to.)_

If only we have all day to talk. It's time we get back to work.

Logging off.


	31. Chapter 31

**Snippets #5**

 **(The scene is personally recorded by Kithara. In it, Negal and Natalie are operating a communication console, apparently trying to contact someone. Negal is remotely accessing the comms system with his own processors, while Natalie is adjusting the apparatus to work as it should be.)**

Natalie : Do you think I can present myself as a totally different person, or should I present myself as usual?

 _(Negal : As usual, of course. There's no use masquerading as another person if Ryder is going to forget the person's name. After all, he has chosen to forgotten you. He's young and daring, remember? The only kind of angst for a man like him is broken relationship, not disremembered teammate.)_

 _(Kithara : Perhaps you meant to say Ryder's pressing concern is to keep the little asari brat from barging herself in between Vetra Nyx and him.)_

Natalie : That, too.

 **(From the camera, the screen above the comms apparatus slowly clears from static white screen into the view of the Tempest's meeting deck. Suvi Anwar seems to be directing the ship's comms at the moment.)**

Natalie : This is Natalie Homer hailing the Tempest. I repeat, this is agent Homer hailing the Tempest, is anybody receiving?

Suvi : This is... fszffzfsf... of the Andromeda Initiative. Is that you, Nat? Your voice sounds a little buzzy.

Natalie : Of course it's me. I knew it; you're the only one who calls me Nat.

Suvi : Haha, seems like we enjoy calling each other with shortened first names.

Natalie : True, true.

Suvi : So, where are you right now, Nat? I can't see your face clearly on my screen, and it looks like you are located somewhere around the cliffs above Prodromos. Your voice is as clear as the sky, however.

Natalie : Of course I am. There's a satellite post here just above the outpost. I can easily transmit whatever messages I have to you, but that's the problem; the satellite happens t be almost a one-way transmission. Can you check with the Nexus' technicians? I'll send you some data to study for now, but don't expect to respond back, at least until the Nexus workers can fix the bandwidth.

Suvi : Sure thing. Oh, by the way... fhshfsfssfs...

Natalie : I can't hear you, Suvi. Can you repeat it, please?

Suvi : I said, Ryder to his squadmates down to Kadara Port. He was given some task by Sloane Kelly to gain her favor, or else we can't establish an outpost here.

Natalie : Oh... Did he receive any death threats, blackmailing or the like?

Suvi : None as far as we know.

Natalie : Okay then. I'm sorry but I've got more duties coming my way. See you again, Suvi. And please keep an eye on the Nexus for me.

 **(The two of them finishes their conversation and bid each other farewell. Natalie turns the screen off and faces the other screen showing Negal and Kithara.)**

 _(Kithara : Some data to study, huh? That was my idea, actually.)_

 _(Negal : What? Tell the Tempest team about Meridian so they can find it?)_

Natalie : I must admit, it might not be the best idea, but still works in our favor. We've talked about this sometime before. With everyone's eyes watching Ryder and his team exploring the cluster, we have more than enough momentum to make our move in the shadows. By the time everyone realizes what we're doing, you lot will already be large enough to challenge our opponents, Kett and Initiative alike, without so much trouble.

 _(Negal : And build our forces from there?)_

Natalie : Until we are strong enough to tackle any danger by ourselves. Until we are great enough to take this galaxy as ours.


	32. Chapter 32

**Snippets #6**

 **(In this occasion, the scene is recorded by Xenara. Natalie is accompanied by Sharcov and Adana, trying to contact the Nexus themselves. Sharcov and Adana are lending their digital processing power to pinpoint the station's location from Eos, with Natalie tuning the comms apparatus to initiate communication.)**

Natalie : This is Natalie Homer from Prodromos hailing the Nexus. I repeat, this is Natalie Homer hailing the Nexus, is anybody present?

Unknown spokesperson : Who is this?

Natalie : I've already told you my name; I am Natalie Homer.

Unknown spokesperson : There's nobody with that name. I've checked it, three times in case you wanted to know. Now, why don't you just terminate the call? I'm a busy man, got a lot of work to do.

Natalie : And who do you think you are? You are obviously neither Foster Addison nor Jarun Tann. Why do you even bother answering?

Unknown spokesperson : I am William Spender, and as the station's official groundskeeper, it's my prerogative to supervise the Nexus and everything related to it, whether someone is allowed or not to work here or approach the station or even talk with its officers. As I said, you are not registered as an official Initiative colonist, and to my knowledge, there's no one on Prodromos with your name.

Natalie : Those obligations belong to Tiran Kandros, Nakmor Kesh, and Addison, not yours.

Spender : Unfortunately, I don't have all day to argue about my rights with a possible straggler who holds no power in the Initiative, so I'll just leaves it at that. Goodbye.

 **(Spender decides to disconnect the call without further ado, prompting Sharcov to track down the man's identity and potential connections.)**

 _(Adana : Oh wow, I am looking forward to have that human under my control. He'll see what it feels like to lose one's authority.)_

 _(Sharcov : Got it, William Spender should've been working under Kesh's wing in the engineering section. But under unknown circumstances, he... how do I phrase this, spread his tentacles here and there?)_

Natalie : Are you trying to imply something wicked?

 _(Sharcov : Yes, and it looks like he created more than one wicked scheme.)_

Natalie : Entertain me.

 _(Sharcov : Firstly, he goaded the krogan colonists into serving Tann during the mutiny under the false assurance of a prestigious position among the directors. After the mutiny was taken care of, the krogans anticipated Spender to uphold the end of his bargain, only to be flipped off by Tann himself, evidently unaware of the backdoor deal Spender made.)_

 _(Adana : Let me guess, the bastard human talked his way out of it and convinced the krogans to leave, causing Kelly and even more people to fled the station as well.)_

 _(Sharcov : He's also a very competent swindler, you see. Keeping the station going by pulling errands here and there through unsavory means, while also smuggling goods in and out of the Nexus under the claim of legal business trades.)_

Natalie : I don't know much about the Nexus' business practices, but with a swindler having connections all over the place...

 _(Sharcov : He could theoretically discover our agendas.)_

Natalie : Beyond that, he'll most likely accuse us of trying to take over his illegal work. Hopefully people will be too bored to actually care about our plan.

 **(As Natalie turns off the apparatus and leaves the room, the camera shifted away to reveal an open workspace outside the comms room, where more Reaper ships are being constructed by the indoctrinated Kett. Five ships as large as a frigate are being modeled after Sovereign since the last two weeks, ready to be taken over by the already existing Reapers, with another six planned to be built until next month.)**

 **(Xenara focuses the camera to reveal what appear to be new Dragon's Teeth pods being prepared to convert captured Kett into husks. Several Ascended could be heard mumbling about plans to go out to the open plains to look for stray Kett to convert, and exiled pirates if there's any.)**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter 27 : The (Long) Way Home**

 **(Author's Note : This chapter goes back into third-person mode, and also serves as the final chapter of this story. The whole story arc is not done, however, as there will be one more fanfic to wrap up the entire lore.)**

For want of a nail, the shoe is lost. For want of a shoe, the horse is lost.

For want of a horse, the message is lost. For want of a message, the battle is lost.

For want of a battle, the kingdom is lost. And all for the want of a nail.

The poem had been recited over and over as Natalie spent the last seven weeks preparing to invade Meridian through the use of her Ascended fleet. Ever since she contacted the bastard Spender, Nat had been increasing her efforts to obtain more resources. Indoctrinated Kett were sent back and forth to kidnap people, Kett and outlaws alike, to convert into husks using the lately-designed Dragon's Teeth. Pirates and Initiative personnel were both captured and forcibly integrated into her army, their belongings and resources confiscated also. By the recent time, she boasted over four hundred indoctrinated agents, dozens of specialized husks, and twenty one space-worthy Reaper ships larger than the Normandy SR-1.

Nat delegated some of her time to design and construct processing machines, in the event that a full-scale Harvest on the Andromeda species is certain. Natalie's already existing Reapers required no more organic compounds as their cores; it would be the newly-ascended ones which will need organic-infused cores. They would be young and naive; it is the older ones' duty to teach them why the Harvest was necessary. And when the time is right, the Milky Way will once again be returned into her hands...

Time after time, Natalie recited the poem, seemingly understanding the reason why she chose it over any other tragic verses; the arks came separated, therefore they easily fell prey to the Kett. Their pathfinders were either dead or missing, causing 'fresh graduates' to clean up the mess. And the largest blow came when the very first pathfinder to appear after fourteen months of space-stranding got killed on his first pathfinding mission, driving his son to step up without a role-model to follow. If only the journey's administrators took more precaution before the storm hit them hard...

"For want of a pathfinder, the journey is lost..."

"And for want of a journey, Meridian is lost. Figures, their overreliance on copy-pasting unknown technology and playing with the unknown will one day spell their doom."

Natalie and Kithara had been trading a few sardonic jokes at each other, knowing full well that, even if their trip to the Archon's flagship turned into failure, his databanks could still be rapidly mined to find out where Meridian might be.

After all, why do the hard work if you could goad the hero of the day to perform all the difficult and exhausting job himself? Natalie knew how rebellious Ryder turned out to be, and she knew how easy it was to misdirect him through optimism and brashness.

"Now that we are going to chase down the Archon's ship, can you give a briefing? You three, what have you got during your investigations?"

Druzzo, Rhanaia, and Damostl respectively reviewed all the evidences and hypotheses they've gathered and formulated some twelve days before.

"I'll start with the basic information. Ark Paarchero is the Andromeda Initiative's designated vessel for transporting salarian colonists to the new galaxy. Mirroring design of its human counterpart, Hyperion, Ark Paarchero can accommodate 20,000 passengers and crew in cryogenic stasis.

"Paarchero's development was plagued by early delays and disagreements between its senior crew and the Initiative's design team. The salarian penchant for constantly pushing the boundaries of technology was often at odds with the realities of budgets and time constraints. At one point, it was calculated that if every "vital and necessary improvement" suggested by the salarian contingent was incorporated into the Paarchero's design, its launch would have been delayed until 2204 at the soonest.

"After considerable negotiation and debate, a compromise was reached and Ark Paarchero departed the Milky Way in 2185 in the initial wave of settlers under the command of Captain Lumont Hayjer."

"Our targets are located in the Tafeno system; our destination specifically lies at a gas giant named Duiononasa by the angara. If that intel is correct, we should be expecting to encounter the same layout of halls and rooms. Also, as a form of precaution, we should bring five or ten Kett with us. They will serve as a distraction to the Archon's Kett flocks."

"From the database, the ship's name is Verakan, and is heavily armed. It'd be wise to assume that its interior is armed with booby-traps and populated by the Archon's best soldiers. In which case, I advise you to use Ryder and company as a distraction to them as you move around the ship with less resistance. Oh, and make sure that you won't be hindered by any traps; let Ryder trigger them instead."

It is tempting to just smugly walking around the Verakan, while Ryder and his team would run here and there fighting Kett, but she knew better. Attentiveness was severely needed, and she ought to be the one to swallow every last bit of knowledge while the young human soldier wastes his time with the enemy.

If there was a race against time, this would be it.

 **xxxx**

The trip from Pytheas system to the Tafeno system took days, if not weeks. Perhaps the new Ascended vessels were capable of travelling without the need to refuel every so often, but their FTL drives required 10 light-years per day of flight to finally reach the endpoint.

What rattled Natalie in a funny way wasn't the greenish color of the gas giant, but the way Paarchero was tethered to the Verakan as if they were two dinghies on a raging river.

She could see the Tempest from afar, approaching the tethered ships while using their stealth system too. With her choice to bring five Reapers there, Natalie wasn't sure if her strategy would work. She stayed there, onboard Kithara's big vessel, watching the Tempest disembarking its pathfinder as well as keeping watch on possible intruders. Thankfully, Nat didn't have to sit around for very long, as gunshots and frantic voices could be heard from their comms systems. Adana and Negal had kindly intruded into Ryder's comms to give Nat an advantage.

As Natalie prepared her armor and weapons, Kithara non-verbally alerted her that Ryder had collected the acting salarian pathfinder, Zevin Raeka. "Oh my, thanks so much little Scotty, you've made our job simpler." Natalie mused to nobody.

With the Tempest ready to take off to scout the surrounding area, and the ship's crew monitoring Ryder's progress to the Verakan, Kithara maneuvered to the top of the Archon's vessel while nobody's looking. Natalie relayed her mission protocols once more.

"Number one, prevent SAM and Suvi from finding my status. Number two, mine every data as soon as I open a network connection. Number three, if the mission fails, don't try to retrieve me. You'll be in charge if anything goes wrong, understood?"

"Yes, master. Preparing your landing in three, two, one..."

Natalie's landing on top of the ship's hatch was smooth; her eight slaves landed somewhat drunkenly due to being indoctrinated. Kithara took off to hide with the other four, far and unseen but still close enough to interfere with Verakan's systems. Not wanting to stay in open atmosphere any longer, Natalie quickly opened the hatch and dropped in, her slaves followed right behind.

They were in an upper deck now. According to Moshae Sjefa's words, the Archon owned a personal quarter, a 'Sanctum' he called it. To get there without attracting too much enemy, Natalie must navigate through the maintenance halls and side rooms, all the while taking benefits from any distractions on Ryder's behalf.

This mission shouldn't get more complicated.

 **xxxx**

Natalie's expectation of a quick and stress-free mission was temporarily disturbed. Ryder had chosen to announce his presence by throwing grenades and concussive shots at any Kett Behemoths and Destineds he saw. In a sense, it was a good strategy to strike down the big ones with Concussive shots, but with the speed of the attack, the entire ship instantaneously became alerted and alarms flashed everywhere. Even though Nat and her slaves were wandering far away from the main commotion, all patrolling Kett were on high alert and ready to kill. Soon, Natalie lost her indoctrinated army to the patrolling guards, but it did allow her to slip past the next fortified stations with no problem. The incoming backups were left clueless as to who slayed the previous guards if it wasn't Ryder who did the act.

Ryder, on the other hand, had bitten more than he can swallow.

Kithara and his companions were very skilled at hacking the doors and comms systems. More than once, Natalie was in danger of an approaching Kett group, but Kithara always managed to lock the door they were coming from and unlocked a way out for her.

Along the way, Natalie would come across places which look like offices or abandoned labs. Within the office-like rooms, the still-active computers were lined with warning messages to any who read them. Natalie wasted no time in tapping into the computers' network, giving the five Reapers precious minutes to download any worthwhile information and left behind a computer virus to erase any incriminating mark.

"No more than three minutes!" was what Natalie would say whenever a Reaper asked for more time.

The laboratories told a different story. Stasis pods similar to the ones they discovered on Eos were a clear indication that the Kett had been putting the Paarchero under arrest long before the Hyperion arrived, and the Invictor was given the privilege to experiment on the confused and scared salarians as he pleased on Eos. In the labs, the story was no more different. To figure out the reason behind all these madness, Natalie allowed the Reapers ten minutes to comb through the labs' consoles. The results were... promising, in a grim way.

"Ah, so the Archon feared that the arks carried invaders from beyond their empire. He wrongly speculated that we already know about Meridian and planned to take it over from the beginning."

"It is from his paranoia and arrogance that we truly learn what Meridian is. It would surely be better if the Archon pretended to be a gracious host to snare these amphibians."

"The rest of these logs are... implausibly detailed."

"We all know the Kett never treated other lifeforms with respect."

Adana and Sharcov couldn't be any more correct.

Once again, Natalie continue her trek, aided by Kithara (most of the time), and finding herself some spare time by silently watching the antics of the pathfinder, coming with him were Cora and Vetra.

Pathfinder Raeka agreed to provide assistance whenever she could, but it felt like she was there merely to tag along, especially with her decision to bring salarian captives along the way to safety. Although her compatriot, Captain Hayjer was around to arrange for more support, Natalie could see that Ryder was sidetracked, if ever so slightly.

Now Ryder was carrying more than he could hold.

 **xxxx**

The Archon had just finished putting his thought on his holographic interface. Truly, the Milky Way species were fascinating to be used as new foot soldiers or research materials.

Salarians, for starters, are incredibly intelligent if only they are not limited by their incredibly short lifespan. Their high level of astuteness also confirmed the possibility of being quick problem-solvers and their photographic memorization is a very interesting skill as well.

The turian species, alternatively, excelled in physical prowess, mostly in militaristic terms. Amazing level of obedience, tough and flexible body build, with sharp eyesight and hearing as a bonus, the turians were truly made to be dexterous fighters. More specimens were necessary to complete the study on their anatomy, the Archon noted. But as of now, he must content himself with the krogan, a very brutish species with a penchant of destruction. Even before their own nuclear warfare and introduction of a birth-limiting disease to curb their violent nature, the krogan were unbelievably strong by physical means. They are covered in shell-like carapace capable of surviving in harsh environments and possess an amazing regenerative power in their physiology. Currently, one krogan underwent an exaltation process to see if it can be controlled. Soon, more of its friends would be scheduled for exaltation as well.

The asari turned out to be a bit confusing in terms of sexual orientation and anatomy. Not only they are all females, they also bred using an unconventional means. Mind-melding they said, ' _embracing eternity_ ', some kind of unholy arrangement between genes which allowed the asari to breed with virtually every species. Biology has no room with cheap things like poetry, the Archon sourly pondered.

But the humans... these creatures really were an enigma. No regenerative powers like the krogan, no heightened intellect like the salarians or body carapaces, but these aliens are highly adaptable to various environments and possess greater amount of conviction and beliefs. The humans are substantially active and robust, not as strong as a krogan or turian but able to remain functional for a relatively long time. Truly, a champion must be found among them and thoroughly examined.

The Archon was planning to spend more time with his thoughts when his guard confirmed the presence of the human 'pathfinder' onboard the Verakan.

According to the guard, Ryder would soon reach the central chamber, and advised that it be brought down immediately. But the Archon had a better plan for the human.

Subdue the human, he said, use the stasis field to trap the human in the middle of the room, so that the Archon could question him straight away. Once the interrogation is done, a syringe would be used to take a blood sample from it, while at the same time implanting the pathfinder with a tracker.

If all went well, the human could be used to lead him to Meridian. Let the fool think he had the upper hand.

 **xxxx**

Nobody knew what thoughts swirled inside Natalie's head.

First of all, she correctly surmised that Ryder would walk right into a trap, a stasis trap to be precise. What she didn't expect was for SAM to be able to stop Ryder's heartbeat, clinically murdering him as it was the only way to escape the Archon's snare. He seemed to casually shrug it off.

The Archon was indeed the epitome of pride, greed, and envy rolled into one body, a worthy opponent for her. And Ryder was merely an annoyance.

The second thing was his choice to engage the Archon, his projected image actually, in a heated conversation. It wasn't pure luck which allowed Natalie to be very close to Ryder; it was a combination of careful planning, silent walking, use of a cloaking device, and Ryder's own mistake of letting his guard down as he observed pieces of Remnant artifacts. Despite being unable to talk with each other, both Kithara and SAM were sure that nearly all of the Remnant relics in the Sanctum were nothing but rubbish...

Until both sides spotted one peculiar relic standing at the far end of the chamber.

Both the pathfinder and SAM interfaced with it, causing an image of Meridian to show up, and provoking the megalomaniac Kett to greet Ryder.

For unknown reasons, the Archon would not show himself in person, feeling comfortable by using a holographic avatar to darkly congratulate the young man. He chose to take the bait, giving a much-needed excuse for Natalie to start analyzing Meridian's star chart and transmitting it back to Kithara.

She was pretty much done when the Archon unleashed an abomination that was once a krogan.

The battle was unpleasantly difficult. Aside from the rampaging hell beast, multiple Kett Chosens appeared to flank all four of them. Natalie couldn't make out what went wrong, but the wild creature attacked both Ryder's team and the Kett, likely because of the krogan's notorious blood rage, something the Kett hadn't removed from this beast's nature. After a long and arduous massacre, Nat made a strange resolution that only she could answer; she unveiled her cover-up, surprising Ryder and his teammates who glared at her in shock and disbelief before using a smoke grenade to conceal her escape.

"Master, thank you very much for the data you've sent for us."

"The Kett have figured out where Ryder will be going and are converging there, leaving you some vacant places to flee."

"Kithara is ready to pick you up. Head to the upper deck and find an escape hatch."

Natalie gave them quick cheers and fled in an instant, ignoring Ryder who was calling him and tried to give chase. Thanks to Adana, Natalie could hear a distressed Raeka pleading for help and a group of krogan prisoners asking for someone to rescue them. The human pathfinder was, as speculated by Negal, compelled to make another military choice; save one pathfinder and several civilians, or the krogans who were actually scouts sent from New Tuchanka, according to Drack from the Tempest's comms.

Kithara and Sharcov were sure that Ryder would choose to assist the salarians, until he made his apology to the other pathfinder heard on the comms...

"The salarian is confirmed dead, master. Her presence cannot be detected anymore."

"Then there's no more reason to keep the ark intact. Kithara, be prepared for extraction. The rest of you, blow up the Verakan's rear engine."

The Reapers obeyed and swiftly performed their tasks. Nat's feet made loud noises as she ran across the empty halls, her earpiece still broadcasted shouting and gunshots from Ryder and company, most likely being chased around by Kett troops. It didn't take long for her to find and unlock a new escape hatch to climb up. As Natalie took a minute to dispose of some pursuing Kett, she saw Ryder coming up from another hatch at the front of the ship, just as Kithara halted at her side with his hull wide open. She stepped into Kithara's hull and had the Reaper take her away; moments later the Tempest did the same before fleeing the planet with ark Paarchero in tow.

The Archon's flagship attempted to give chase, only for the four Reapers to damage one of the ship's engines in a single coordinated blast. As they left the gas giant, Natalie noted that the resulting damage would simply serve to slow them down, for a week at least.

And now, it's time to find the way back to home...


End file.
